Nice day!

According to VeloNews: http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13985.0.html, the Astana team is in Albuquerque this week for a pre-season training camp. Because temperatures there yesterday remained in the 20s and there were patches of black ice on the roads, the team canceled the day's ride.

Also in the same hotel in Albuquerque is a race-training camp for juniors, guys 16-18 years old, focused on teaching them the skills and fortitude they'll need if they seek employment as bike racers.

The junior boys did not cancel their ride yesterday, but did three hours in sub-freezing temps on sketchy roads. If a boy appeared to be unclear on certain aspects of the racer mindset or racer technique, the instructors, old racers themselves, corrected them vigorously. And loudly.

The boys, VeloNews reports, thrived on the in-your-face instruction style at the camp. In the cold, on the icy roads, far from their warm suburban homes and loving, supportive parents.

Am I jealous of those boys? Of their youth or commitment or resilience? I am not.

I can turn my head and there's my bike out on our ninth floor patio, leaning on the railing, snow on its seat. Do I wish I were in Albuquerque, two hours out with the guys, nothing but pain in my fingers and toes, some Euro ex-racer screaming in my ear that I just don't get it...?

I believe I'll boil some water and have another tea, thank you - and one of Tamar's homemade scones. After a while, I'll bundle up warm and go out on the patio to brush the snow off my bike seat. Looks bad, snow on the seat...