Milan-San Remo Monday

This week is full gas; one of those weeks that the whole calendar is based off of. I knew all weekend today would be big; I woke up this morning feeling blah, feeling overwhelmed. I felt like my to-do list was so long that it couldn't be tackled. I felt defeated before starting. And it was only 7:30 am. 

I spent the weekend thinking about this. I knew feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and buried wasn't how I wanted to start the week. I tried to avoid it and here it was. So I took a few moments to slow down and make the conscious decision to approach everything better.

instead of feeling buried by that massive to-do list, I told myself I would get it done. I'm not lazy and checking boxes would be enough. There was no need to approach it like it was anything bigger than a list. Step-by-step. 

But more importantly, I decided to find a happy, positive and good mental place to approach it all from. Instead of being buried, I tackled it.  

Guess what. It's after 10:30 pm and I worked until now. I never saw this coming. But I'm okay. It was all for the greater good and I'm excited about things to come. I smiled throughout the day, grabbed moments where I could and basically just went with things. Do I want to work this late? No. I have pretty strict boundaries I try to keep. Yet sometimes it's worth it and for the next two weeks, this might be more my norm than my exception. If I can keep approaching it from a positive, calm place, I feel pretty confident I can weather it (there better be some relaxing at the end of this!!!!) 

Con Brio!!! 

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. 

Eastward Travels to Japan

I've been spoiled for the past few weeks, even months, without having to wake up early. Following surgery, I let my body sleep as much as it needed and this really ranged from day to day. When the alarm went off at 6:30am yesterday, it was a little shock to the system. Fortunately, a hot shower and espresso got me in gear quickly, or so I thought....

I walked over to my tram station and got on my normal tram to the train station. Sadly, there is major construction and detours going on with Gent's public transportation and I ended up going in the complete wrong direction. I got off and had to hobble, a little faster than my foot would have liked, over to a different tram stop and then was properly under way. Luckily, I've learned many times that things can go wrong with Belgian public transportation, so I always build in a huge time cushion.

A quick Starbucks at the train station and I was on my way to Zaventem (Brussels airport). Ran into some friends from another team at the airport who were heading to the Tour of Hainan; it was nice to catch back up with work friends after not traveling for nearly two months. I had a short flight from Brussels to Amsterdam and then had to wait in maybe the longest immigration line to date while transferring through Amsterdam.

I headed straight to the KLM (Skyteam) lounge with hopes that I could use points/pay to upgrade to business class. I've been concerned about flying this far with my foot and thought a lay-flat bed couldn't hurt. I asked and the woman sadly told me that she had sold it just 10 minutes before. I was bummed but figured I shouldn't give up so easy. I sat down and did some work until it was basically time to board, then I reapproached her and asked if anyone in business hadn't made the flight. To my surprise, she said yes! We processed the transaction as quickly as possible and hobbled super fast to the gate as it was finishing boarding.

Flight attendants on KLM and Delta are always amazing and this flight was no different. I asked for ice for my foot and the flight attendant took amazing care of me from that point forward, continuously bringing me bags of ice wrapped in a towel. Super amazing service. They also made me a gluten free plate of food (no soy sauce, no miso, no tempura, etc), which was above and beyond my expectations. Sadly, I didn't sleep well though. My foot just hurt; there is no way around it. I wasn't comfortable no matter what I did.

We landed and I soon met up with a few riders from my team. We all grabbed much needed Starbucks and then started the journey to Utsunomiya, Japan. The Japan Cup is by far one of the best organized races in the world and everything flows seamlessly. We had a nice 10-passenger van for the 2.5 hour ride, where I proceeded to catch up on Teen Mom (one of my dirty little travel habits).

Since getting to the hotel, I ate a little food, iced my foot crawled into bed for a two-hour nap and then went out for an hour plus walk. My foot is still bothering me and I've been good about icing it. I'm glad to be back in sandals and not lace up shoes and hopefully it'll calm down if I take it easy for the rest of the day.

Day in the Life: GP Stad Zottegem

One-day small Belgian races come with a huge, huge benefit---sleeping at home! I've had two races this week, GP Jef Scherens in Leuven and then GP Stad Zottegem in.... Zottegem. Both were within an hour's train ride, so I got to wake up and sleep at my apartment both days. After my previous month and a half of travel, I don't take days at home for granted. If I didn't live so close, I probably wouldn't attend these races for work, but I can't have my guys racing so closely and not support them. Here's a quick glimpse at my day:

8:00am--Wake up. I know.....it's nothing short of shameful but after all the jet lag, I just try to listen to my body. Shower and check the weather for the day. At Sunday's race, it was cold and raining. I wore basically all the gear I owned, but today is looking like a gorgeous summer day. Shorts, tank top and sandals!

8:30am--Check email, double check trains, drink coffee and throw in some laundry. This whole sleeping at home thing is awesome.  

9:20am--Out the door. It is already HOT, so I grab the tram to the train station. I want to delay the wet dog look.

9:50am--Soy latte and egg sandwich from Starbucks. The sandwich said it had an egg and some spinach, so I was planning on just throwing out the bread. The spinach was instead blended with cheese. Total bust in my gluten-free, dairy-free life.

10:05am--Train to Zottegem. It's delayed 10 minutes.  Lots of funny sounds and shaking, so I'm a little concerned we are never going to make it. Because it is such a low-key race, I'm not terribly concerned about my arrival time.

10:30am--Did some work on the train. I know this is one of the quietest moments of my day and one where I can sit with my computer and decent Internet and crank through some things.

10:50am--Arrive in Zottegem. I have about a 1.5-kilometer walk from the train station to the race start. The heat has really started to crank up.

11:05am--Arrive at the race. I have a few things I need to do before the guys leave for the start, including shoot a few videos. Always a juggling act between getting work done, supporting our sponsors and letting an athlete mentally prepare for competition. Also, there are numerous kid fans on-site, so I try give them a VIP, super memorable experience with the team. I always think that it is our one shot with these kids, our one opportunity to make a lifelong memory and I'm always driven to make it the best it can be. Before I know it, the riders are heading out for the start.

1:00pm--I find a cute restaurant to grab as much water as possible and lunch. I order what ended up being an impressive chicken salad....enough for several people. And because I am in Belgium, I obviously got fries on the side.... with mayonnaise.

2:30pm--The heat is now basically unbearable ...around 34C (100F), so I find someone's shaded front porch that is along race course. I hunker down, find decent Wifi and work until the race finishes. I mainly respond to emails, edit videos and fight with Wifi to get things uploaded.

5:00pm--Waiting for the race to finish. I start looking at my phone and hoping to get an earlyish train back to Gent. It looks like I have a little wait, but hopefully I can make it home by 7pm. I'm dreaming of a normal night at home, cooking my own food and taking it easy....maybe watching a movie.

7:15pm--The Roommate picks me up at the train station. He breaks the news that he has one of his sponsors in town (he works for a different team) and asks if I want to have dinner and drinks out with them. My dream of a salad and a night on the sofa quickly disappears.

7:45pm--A super quick rinse to get the layer of yuck from the day in the sun off and I'm out the door again. A glass of cava at the neighbourhood bar and then Indian for dinner. Despite my earlier hesitations, it isn't so bad.

9:45pm--I'm crawling into bed; I'm definitely dehydrated, but all in all, a good day.