No Sleep For Me

I'm not exactly sure what happened last night, but I woke up probably 15 times during the night and then was wide awake at 4:45am. I'm sure a lot had to do with the fact my hotel room was 28C (!!!!) and even with the windows open, it remained sweltering. I laid in bed until about 5:30am willing myself to go back to sleep and then I just gave up.

There is something to be said for feeling like you've already worked a full day before 11am, especially when it is a crazy week like Milan-San Remo. Instead of feeling frustrated with my lack of zzzzs, I told myself that I could nap later if I needed, but why not go ahead and get moving. I eased into the day with a little journaling, meditating and then work. I got thru a ton of emails and general work duties that had been pushed to the back burner and set an alarm for 7am. Then I stopped working and squeezed in a workout: 30-minute strength training and then a solid 45-minute walk. I think that walk ended up being the best part of my day; I got away from the hotel and actually into what resembled the country. It was foggy, still a little chilly and simply peaceful.

By 8am, I think I had gotten in what would end up being 85% of my step count. The rest of the day went by in a blur of interviews, driving around Milan center to pick up race credentials, chopping down on maybe one too many RXBars, losing my parking ticket, banking loads of video interviews and tackling even more emails and reports.

It might be St. Patty's day for some, but for me, it's Milan-San Remo eve. That means it's 9:15pm and I'm crawling into bed and hoping for a much more restful night. Tomorrow is the longest day in bike racing and I've got a new plan of attack that's different from previous years. I'm a bit excited to see how it all unfolds....

(and I never napped.)

Dubai Eats

Eating in Dubai has been...fairly boring. I ate race buffet 90% of the time, which means the same exact meal, every time. It's simply too expensive to eat elsewhere when food is provided. Thanks to being gluten and dairy free, this definitely limited my choices and I ended up eating basically the same thing every day. It wasn't very inspiring.

• Breakfast: 2-3 egg whites and to just try and make it exciting, some pickles, mustard, pickled onions, and capers. I know...it wasn't good and my stomach hated me for it. I'm in no hurry to repeat this meal. Except that I ate it for a week straight. Ugh.
• Copious amounts of coffee and tea until I left for the race. My hotel room had a Nespresso machine and the first thing I did when my alarm went off was to make an espresso. I really should think about installing one of these on my bedside table at home....what's this silliness of walking to the kitchen?! Also, I skipped all faux-dairy products for the week. Eager to get back to coconut or almond milk. Basically desperately. 
• Lunch: I went to a grocery store and bought a few cans of no-drain tuna that were actually quite tasty and a few avocados. Every evening, I would fill up a plastic container with lettuce and some veggies (typically cucumbers, mushrooms, and peppers) from the race buffet and then add in the tuna and avocado at lunch time. I topped with some of my travel oil and vinegar packets. It wasn't exciting but it got me through.
• Snacks: Cashews, almond butter or beef jerky. Not my finest moments. Probably didn't need all those nuts, fats and calories.
• Dinner: Typically a that I would top with grilled (typically with too much oil for my liking) vegetables and some kind of protein.

And that was it. The same nearly single day, especially for breakfast.

So, by this morning, I'd hit a wall. I was staying in Dubai for an extra day to do some additional work and there was no longer a race buffet. I did a fancy dance, a full-on celebration and loaded up my plate. What you see above isn't everything I ate. It got a little out of control, quickly. There was another plate of veggies and then some scrambled eggs. I was so excited for the variety that I couldn't hold myself back.

Tomorrow--I head back to Belgium for a little bit. I already have all my meals for the next week worked out in my mind.

Do Anything as Long as it Feels like an Adventure

Living out of a suitcase and constantly moving around the glove is a lifestyle that wouldn't suit many people. Combine that with your only home being a strange foreign country and I'm basically always living in total chaos and tackling the unknown.

After nearly 10 hours of straight work and more still to do, I snuck down to the beach to read a bit and watch the sunset.

I think a common phrase said within the bike racing community is, "this isn't a job for many could handle, but for those of us who can, we are the luckiest people in the world." 

I'm grateful and spoiled that I have a job where when I tell someone sitting next to me on a plane what I do, their eyes expand and they immediately tell me how jealous or lucky I am. Trust me, I know.

Who knows how long I'll do this for. I'm applying the advice of Neil Gaimon, "I tended to do anything as long as it felt like an adventure and stopped when it felt like work.”

Right now, Dubai feels just right. It's an adventure; it's strange; it's fascinating and I'll be happy to be back on the move come Monday and on to the next adventure. 

Wild and Wonderful Japan

The biggest theme of Japan was jet lag. It was a constant battle to avoid napping during the day and then staying asleep during the night. Fortunately, I’m lucky enough to travel with a doctor who provided me with a decent sleeping pill every night.

Japan is magical to me. It feels so strange and foreign, yet it is incredibly safe and clean. The people are always friendly and helpful. I didn’t have much free time, but when I did, I wandered. We stay in a fairly industrial city but at the train station, there is a huge mall with loads of restaurants and shops. I would walk up and down aisles after aisle taking it all in and trying not to buy every single dish, mug and treat that I saw.

While this race is fun, it also is one of the most intense and work-demanding races of the year. On Saturday and Sunday, I literally had a minute-by-minute schedule to adhere to (with interviews starting at 6:45am). This included needing to round up over half a dozen people at all times and organizing a much larger team all day long. I’d saw it was managed chaos. But all the prep work from the previous weeks really paid off and everything flowed seamlessly. And I really felt like we capitalized on our short time in Japan to get out as many stories as possible.

I tried to keep as healthy of habits as I could, including daily walks and yoga, but I also enjoyed as much of the food as I could and probably one too many sakes. I do think I’m coming home a kilo or two heavier than I went….how is that possible when you focus on raw fish (and tried to be aware of my rice intake)?!

Closing out the trip, I decided to take the bullet train to Tokyo on Monday morning before my flight. The race organizes a bus for everyone to get to the Narita Airport, but it takes nearly 2.5 hours. I figured it was worth taking a 50-minute train and exploring with that extra time. In my head, I always worry this might be my last time going somewhere or doing something, so I always want to maximize my adventuring. I ate some tasty food and found gifts to take back. It actually ended up being more stressful than I would have liked. I didn’t feel like I had enough time, I felt a bit lost and turned around and I was worried I’d miss my flight, but in the end, I’m glad I did it. Adventure big.

Now I’m heading back to Belgium for four days. On Saturday, I fly right back to Asia, so the jet lag theme is going to continue for awhile. This time to Beijing. 

Spending Time in the US

There is something so easy about going back to the US. Everywhere takes credit cards, everyone speaks English, hotel rooms are sizeable, ice is readily available. The list goes on and on but these things typically appeal to me only in small quantities. After months on the road, when I go back to the States for a few days or weeks, it is always so nice. I don't worry about stress and headaches nearly as much as I do on other trips. I simply know everything will work; that's just how it goes in the US.

I headed directly from the Tour of Denmark over to the States for the Tour of Utah. Initially, I thought it was for less than a week (a whole other blog post to come on that....) and that felt too short. I knew I would be fighting jet lag the entire time but felt lucky to do any of it.  This is a race I absolutely adore.

Even my job is different in America. Everyone is friendlier. Funny enough, even the exact same people who I race with in Europe are nicer when they hit US soil. I haven't figured out why but it really does make a difference in my job. I enjoy the pleasantries that are exchanged in the parking lots, press rooms, hotel buffets and out on course. People ask each other about their days and there are parking lot beers enjoyed between teams.

Another highlight is the food. Race food - especially when we are in California, Utah or Colorado - is incredible. These are states that embrace eating local. At races, typically teams, riders and staff eat together in a big hotel conference room, buffet style. This means A LOT of overcooked chicken, pasta and rice. It gets redundant at best. When we go to these US races, the food quality goes up several notches. There will be black beans and salsa, kale and even the occasional apple pie. 

I have a slew of food issues all related to health issues. I  try to minimize the attention my health issues play on my life. It is something I have to deal with, so I do, and then I move on with life. They definitely don't define me, but they do make eating while traveling pretty dynamic. Currently, I'm eating gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free and banana-free all based on inflammation in my blood work (I was diagnosed with celiacs off an intestinal biopsy nearly 15 years ago but I decided to ignore it.) I've been eating this way for almost six months and my blood work shows it is helping. Finding foods that fit my diet while on the road, especially outside of the US, is extremely challenging. The US seems to be the land of food disorders because I feel like I can find gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free everything. And I love it. My obsession this race was lettuce wrapped sandwiches from Jimmy Johns and I have no shame in admitting it.

Playlist: Stage 4 Tour de Pologne

I'm all about music. I always have been. Anyone who has ridden with me for a decent amount of time knows I pride myself in my playlist. I feel every day, and possibly even every moment, should have its own soundtrack. And when there isn't music on, I start to feel a little uneasy, especially if I'm trying to work. One of my best monthly bills is Spotify, which gets me through races all over the world, working from home in a foreign country, lengthy airport layovers and long-haul flights.  (And I should also point out that I have an amazing global plan from T-Mobile that makes all this possible.)

The Tour de Pologne isn't all about the bike race. A lot of this race seems to revolve around driving through Poland. This has included everything from heavy city traffic, four lane highways where maniacs try to run you down and super remote back country roads that count as about 1.5 lines wide. The race bible also doesn't mark the best route into the finish, so that's always its own added headache. 

On average, I'm spending about 4 to 5 hours a day in the car and they aren't relaxing, road trip hours. Many of them are white knuckled and see me praying to whatever in the hopes that I make it to the finish in time.

Yet, today was my most successful transfer to date. I gave up on the race bible. I gave up on the GPS. I gave up on Google Maps. Instead, I put myself behind a Polish team's bus and followed it at the max speed of about 115 kph for over two hours, which wasn't so bad because my little Cleo is floored by around 117 kph and I managed to make it to the finish for the first time without getting lost or blocked by road closures. 

All this time in the car means a killer playlist is vital. Right now, I'm all about the country music with a sprinkle of Americana. There is just something amusing to be driving across Poland listen to Luke Bran, Alison Krauss, Avett Brothers or Lee Brice.

Here are some highlights from today's tunes:

• Somewhere With You -- Kenny Chesney
• Crazy Girl -- Eli Young Band
• I Don't Dance -- Lee Brice
• Highway Don't Care --Tim McGraw et al 
• Life's What You Make It -- Graham Colton
• Gunpowder & Lead -- Miranda Lambert
• Home Alone Tonight --Luke Bryan and Karen Fairchild 
• Whiskey Lullaby -- Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss (<-- her voice may be my favorite on Earth)
• I Play the Road -- Zac Brown Band
• Springsteen -- Eric Church
• Come Over -- Kenny Chesney
• Hard to Love -- Lee Brice
• Head Full of Doubt -- The Avett Brothers
• Kiss Tommorrow Goodbye --Luke Bryan

Below you can find today's whole playlist on Spotify. It runs nearly 3.5 hours....meaning most days I would still be a little short. I'm always open to music recommendations, so send them my way.

https://open.spotify.com/user/fcgorman/playlist/3iGljTO9YodHufIoyYab9E