Countdown to the 2014 road season
Christian Meier, one of Canada’s cyclists in the WorldTour, is coming off his break and now preparing for the 2014 road racing season.
A few more days and my “off season” will be officially over.
It flew by, but I feel like I have been able to have a relaxed yet action-packed couple of months off and on the bike. Being able to travel a bit (Indonesia, Japan, Australia and Austria) gave me the mental break that is hard to come by once the season is fully underway. Once I got back to Girona in December, I enjoyed the holiday festivities with my wife, ringing in the new year by being in bed by 11:30 p.m. and enjoying the quiet of Girona before the craziness ensues.
Currently, I’m in Argentina. I’ve been here for a couple days, following an epic 44 hours of travel. I’ll start the 2014 season off with a weeklong training camp before the Tour of San Luis kicks off on Jan. 20. This schedule is a bit different from previous years. Usually there’s a training camp somewhere in Europe and it’s off to Argentina a few days in advance. I feel this year’s plan will be more beneficial as we are given more time to adjust to the climate—40 C and hotter—the time change, the food, etc. I will be on the road for almost three weeks, which is quite a large chunk of time away from home so early in the year. I hope it brings some good benefits for later on in the spring. It is always exciting to get back to the races and to get into our new redesigned team kit, which I think is our best look yet.
My spring program is going to follow a familiar routine: after Argentina, the plan is the Mallorca Challenge, a few one-day races in Italy and Volta a Catalunya. They are all races I have participated in before, and am keen to give a crack at again. With the majority of these races being close to my home base, it never feels like I am too far away. It’s easy to finish a race and be back home the say day. With all the travelling that we do, this is always a huge bonus as it makes recovery a lot easier, sleeping in your own bed and going back to home-cooked meals.
I am looking forward to a good season of hard biking and hopefully helping the team gather more victories than last year!
