last race in europe 06.16.04 (12:38 am) So this is it the home streach, my last race in Europe, and it should be a good one. Ronde de L'oise, a four-day five-stage race that starts tomorrow with a team time trial on the outskirts of Paris. It's got some climbing so it should be interesting. We are doing it as the national team, four of our guys and two of theirs, Nathan Mitchell, and Jesse Anthony. Keep an eye on cyclingnews they have been pretty good about results for these races, as I will be leaving the computer behind. I guess the next time you all check in I will be back in the US. Thanks for reading, paco 1 Comments   only one more week 06.14.04 (6:12 am) Hi everybody, I have been pretty busy with stuff over here. How can he be busy you ask? All he has to do is race and train. Well, I have been directing all of my energy to those two things racing and recovering. Literally all of it. I have been spending much of the time that I am not pedaling lying down, either sleeping or reading. Let me tell you it is a dream come true to be able to focus this hard on something. Overall I think having the chance to do this can account for at least 50% of the improvements that I have made here. Many of the guys here and maybe at the national team house get bored. Well I can honestly say that I have not been bored yet, I think I would be, anyone would be if they lost focus. I also think that having never had a chance like this before, (to focus 100% on racing) has made me appreciate the opportunity, and squeak every bit of it out. I think it may be hard for some who haven’t had a real job with stress; demands and politics, they don’t have any idea how shitty it can be. And that saying you here every once and a while- your absolute worst day on the bike is better than the best day in the office. Well in my life that holds surprisingly true. The reality of it is that I don’t know if I will ever have another chance to be this focused on one thing ever again in my life. Just having that chance has made this trip worth every minute of suffering, and every penny spent. Kind of a tangent, but since I am in my last week here I have been reflecting on my experiences. They have been incredible and allowed me to grow more as a cyclist, and maybe a person than any other single period in my life. So thanks to everyone for the encouragement to get here; and while I have been here. Especially thanks to Cathy for her support, understanding me, and why I had to come spend four months away from home. I trained all week including a 5-hour jaunt in the rain on last Thursday, I was a little worn down for the race this weekend but it went well. The race was a 1.6 called the 11th GP Criquielion, once again there was quite the array of talent, including the cyclocross world champ Bart Wellens and his Spar Select team. I rode well but missed the main split of 30 or so. But I did contest the first rush (sprint) at the beginning of the race and placed third. Pretty good for me considering that the whole 150-man field was all together and really aggressive. Hey I got on the board. There were 3 climbs and the bunch split on the lead up to the third climb after a descent which is still not my forte, but the descent itself was a small personal victory for me I was able to keep myself in a respectable position. The race finished on 10 local laps of which I rode all pretty aggressively, I was waiting for a group to roll off and bridge to the front group (like Bernard had theorized) but it never happened. The other small victories we had were as a team, we finished all of our racers, a first for this year, and we beat the national team in the team standings, a friendly little rivalry. And the big thing was that we rode smart, if there was an American getting yelled at it was usually one of the national guys not us. We are getting some real respect as a team and it is pretty cool. Well I am still waiting on selection for the stage race that starts on Thursday in France, I think I have a good shot and although it will make for a tight schedule I would be glad to go, plus think of the form it will give me when I get back. I am super excited to see everyone, talk soon. Tot Ziens, paco 0 Comments   Weekend Report 06.07.04 (3:50 am) So I am really learning what it takes to be a pro here, and yesterday was just another example. We raced the Memorial Philippe Van Coningsloo a UCI 1.5 that started in a town named Warve, about an hour south of Hertsberg. It was a really good race for me, not so much in the sense of finish placing, but because of how well I was able to race considering how last week went for me. And I would have to say that racing well yesterday, brings on almost as much confidence as getting a really good finish. What brings this all on, well after getting blown out on Monday at Fleche Hesbignonne / Cras Avernas. I got really sick and I stayed that way up until Saturday when I was at least feeling well enough to get a good pre race ride in with some openers. I am actually still a little sick. I only was able to ride about 4 hours during the week, mostly inside on the trainer. So to finish even though I was in the second group was a huge accomplishment for me. Especially since the field was once again no slouch, D1 Rabobank, Cycling News.Com, Deschutes were all there. The race was a good one as usual, the first 50km had 6 pretty big climbs for around here and I rode really well on them, I was in the top 10 over everyone, and I even made the split the only time it got really hard, but the climbs weren’t the crux of this one, it was the cobbles at the end. I spent the whole morning at the front patrolling and trying to make the early split, so we could keep it easy for Austin and Eric. I did a good job but it took a bit out of me. After the climbs there was 35k of flat ground to cover until the real test started. I ended up running out of liquid so I made the decision to go back to the car, no one else on the team had water either, and for me it was get water or not finish. I made it to the car and back with no major problems, and I got some bottles up to teammates too. And not too far after that the proverbial shit hit the fan. There was a huge wreck at the entrance of the cobbled section, and I made it past with the tail of the group, I would find out after the race that Eric was the guy at the front hitting it so hard. I made the split but not really, I was barely hanging on and one of the guys in front of me popped and then I blew sky high trying to close his gap. I went straight through the chase group back into the peleton where I was able to recover, once I was sound my teammate attacked the peleton got a solid gap and I went with 3 guys to bridge. Our group of 7busted ass for two local laps about 30km and made it back to the chase group that contained 30 or so. It was hard, I mean really hard I thought that every time I pulled through it was going to be my last, but we made it, unfortunately the race was over not more than a km after we caught back on. We finished 7 min back from a group of 40 or so. The thing that pleased me so much was how well I raced the start of the race, and then how deep I was able to dig in the end, and all of that after a week of no training and being sick. Like I said they teach you how to be a pro here and when those guys race 100 times a year it seems inevitable that you are going to have weeks like I did. And to make it through, that seems like a good lesson. Thanks for reading. Tot Ziens, paco [image]paco_322514424.jpg[/image] 2 Comments   oh no! 06.02.04 (4:58 am) Well two weeks of spectacular form on my part came to a end on monday, at the uci race in Fleche Hesbignonne / Cras Avernas (1.5). I wasn't feeling too chipper in the morning, but I thought it was just because I had dug so deep on saturday. It was a crazy field, Lambowcredit, Collmans, Rabbobank. I have never been in a race with so many world champions, it seemed like every one of those guys had rainbow stripes on their sleeves. Sven Nyes, and Mario Declerq were among the bunch as well. Pretty much the best field I think I have ever raced. It was pretty cool I spent much of the first hour in the front with the big teams, but I struggled with a 100kph descent, and abandoned in the feed zone with "stomach issues" and a case of bad legs. Once again it was a great experiance, but it looks like I pushed just a little too much because I have had a head cold for the past couple days. Oh well, now I am pretty focused on just getting better for the last few weeks of racing here. Thanks for checking in. Tot ziens, paco 0 Comments