There's nothing like being on the road the day before a weekend race. It's pure heaven. There's so much hope for the racing ahead and joy that the work/school week is finally over. Being on the road with your team, talking shop, and going through the "meet"/race warmup on Friday is inspiring. I think the reason I enjoy it so much is that for a few days, you feel like someone who's life is dedicated to the sport. You're away from home with your focus as well as everyone else's on racing. It's been a while since I had this chance, but today, Jess, George, and I left town, heading North to Long Island.

The drive was surprisingly easy and we were there in around six hours. After unloading the car, George and I changed into our kits and hit the road on our 'cross bikes. We rode along Soundview Ave. and out to the Horton Point Lighthouse. We had to take a moment and enjoy the sun beginning to set below the clouds over Long Island Sound. Once we did, we turned for home and started doing starts to open up the legs for tomorrow. We alternated being the starter and experimented with different gears. This was my first time practicing starts this year, and I was encouraged at my ability to get off the line. George and I both came away feeling great about our legs and psyched to be racing on the same track as the World Champion.

Jess and I whipped up a simple pasta dish and we all chowed down. After that George set up some DVD's of the cyclocross world championships while I worked on getting Jess' bike race-ready. All that took was removing the rack and putting on my Grifo clincher tires. The weekend is already shaping up to be a cyclocross camp for the three of us.