Paddle Balls

I could live here.

Really.

 Despite being thousands of miles from home, not speaking the language let alone understanding it. Actually, why not have a house based here in Mallorca and one in Colorado? Forget flying south for the winter - let's fly half way around the world. A diet built on fish, olive oil, rice - yes, please. Roads so twisty and curvy they are built for bikes and nothing else. Everyone's car bumper tell the story - these roads were built for carts not cars.

Today was an "easy" ride. It had 15 switchbacks, 35 bleating goats, roughly 10 cars, 5 cyclists going the other direction (including Marianne Vos!) and about 3,000 feet of climbing. It was also cooler - only 95 degrees instead of 115. The ridge line summit between Valledemossa and Esporles had an ocean breeze from both sides of the island, making it feel like a refrigerator at a balmy 85 degrees. It felt amazing.

Today's solo venture made me realize just how much I've come to love group rides. The hours and watts tick by, pushing you to greater heights and effort without thinking about it. I looked down a couple of times at my power meter only to think, "that's it?!?" I can push that much harder with other people around... competitive much? Not only am I hitting new max power numbers but my LT has increased by 10%. The other day we did a 40 minute climb and I stuck with the group for all but 800 meters from the top. No doubt about it, it probably would have taken me double that amount of time solo.

Yeah, yeah. The riding is good. But what else do you do?

We play paddle ball at the beach. Well, we did once. Fueled by a Tom Collins and at about 7:45pm. We sucked but giggled the entire time.

We eat amazing foods. Food at the grocery store is so much cheaper here! 100 Euros buys you a weeks worth of food for two people. Actually, it could probably cost less than that, but we are putting in some mileage here. On Benjamin's birthday, I bought 4 pounds of mussels, 2 bottles of white wine, a lemon bigger than my hand, 2 loaves of bread and parsley for 11 Euros.

I've been writing a ton. It's quiet around here, especially when Benjamin heads to the track. I spend my time writing and fine tuning things for my book. The clarity is unparalleled. Things are flowing. And I'm getting that much closer to having a due date.

I got to witness my first Euro bike race! Holy shit it was chaotic! 140 people started and only about 40 finished. One thing's for sure - no matter where you are in the world, a bike race is a bike race. Tires being pumped and numbers being pinned. The biggest difference, other than the narrow roads and hundreds of people mulling about is that the announcer only spoke Spanish. It's nice to know our breed transcends cultures.

The girls are getting super fit. It's really an honor to see them prepare for London. The excitement is building. Get ready world!