January 21, 2010
Written by Steven Cozza

Today we got to go out and test out our sweet TT bikes. It was a tough workout, but worth it. We get a little break now and then go out again to do a sprint workout. After that, it’s massages and then dinner!

I have to say it’s pretty sweet being a pro cyclist. We wake up and eat an awesome breakfest that has been made just for us. Then hop on our bikes, do a workout, come back and eat more awesome food that is prepared for us. Then we take naps or head to the hotel spa for a massage and then we enjoy dinner before turning the lights out and going to bed in our perfectly made and prepared rooms.

In fact, it’s beginning to make me a bit mad. We have some obsessive compulsive housekeeping here. They go as far as to fold both Danny’s and my clothes. The other day, I came back to the room to find a pair of Dannys underwear nicely folded in a stack of my nicely folded clothes. So I thought I had a fail-proof tactic today – I went as far as to construct a blockade in the room with chairs and I put a note up that said, “solo el bano, por favor. No ENTRADA.” Well, that didn’t work. They just tore past the sign, broke through the baracades and went to town. This is war!

On a better note, I’m glad I can finally eat the oatmeal now that they are not soaking it in milk. It took us 5 days to get them to do that. Whoop, whoop! I hate to be a pain, but it’s important that I stay gluten and dairy-free for my body to function properly.

The sun is always shining here in Calpe and I am feeling great on the bike, so all is good in Spain. My heart goes out to all the people of Haiti. I wish there was more I could do to help. If you get the chance, please make a donation to American Red Cross or www.haitichildren.com. If you send one to the Haiti Children’s relief fund, you can get a nice tax write-off and become a member of my Race For Kids Fan Club. It’s a win-win!

Off for our second ride of the day – sprint workout time. Hoorah.

Steven

January 15, 2010
Written by Steven Cozza

I peeled myself out of bed, hopped on the trainer for 30 minutes, took a shower, ate breakfast, and then finished packing my bags for our long road trip to training camp today. Boots, the cat, has gotten quite fat since I have been feeding her. I figure she will have to go for over 2 weeks without being fed, so I’ve been giving her lots of food. I even gave her some of the fish I made last night. This morning, I left lots of food all around the backyard for her to snack on as the days go on, that is if the other strays don’t steal the food.

Today we are off for our drive down to Calpe, Spain. It will be about a 5 hour drive so I will bring plenty of movies to watch in the car on my notebook. I’ve never watched a movie in a car. I get car sick, so it will be interesting to see what happens to me, haha.

It has been a great past 3 months leading up to this camp and the start of the season. I am really excited to see all my hard work pay off. It’s been one of the most challenging winters ever for me, mostly because of my dietary changes to help with my Irritable Bowel Syndrome Disorder. I’ve had to limit as much sugar as possible and cut gluten completely out of my diet along with dairy. This has helped me and I am just so glad to have my IBS-D under control for the most part.

I will try and report back throughout the camp on how everything is going. We have quite a few new members on the squad this year so it will be great to get to know all of them.

Off on a road trip,

Steven

January 8, 2010
Written by
Steven Cozza
 

So far my transition back into Spain has been great. I finally like hearing Lady Ga Ga and her “Paparazzi” song on the radio. Back in the states, I couldn’t stand hearing that one on the radio, but over here it is by far the best song on the air. 

What a small world this is. I got on the plane and sitting right next to me was Ted King from the Cervelo Test team. We were both shocked.

Driving back into Girona was surreal. One minute in Georgia and the next in Girona, Spain. Very, very, weird. Going from speaking English fluently to speaking Spanish like a 2 year old child is quite the life experience. At least I can feel young again going back to the days when I couldn’t speak English. One of these days, I will conquer the Spanish language and speak to all my friends over here with more than just saying, “hi, how are you?”, and then translating the rest with made-up sign language. 

After getting all my stuff moved out of my old apartment, I headed over to Svein’s (my Canadian teammate) house in Banyoles where I will be staying the 9 days before I leave for camp and until I can find a place to live in the rest of the year. It is a huge house and nicer than any place that I have ever stayed in over here. They have a cat that I am feeding for them which is a little creepy. I love every kind of animal in the world, but I have always had issues with cats. On top of it, I am allergic to them. This particular cat paces back and forth outside and just stares in at me like it wants to eat me. Everytime I go outside to feed him or come back from a ride, he rubs all over my legs as if he wants to be my friend. I think he is starting to soften my heart. This morning when I saw a white stray cat swooping in to steal his food, I stood up for him and scared the stray away so he could eat his breakfast in peace.  Its only been 3 days having to take care of a cat, but who knows, maybe by the 10^th I will like cats.  I doubt it… 

So far the weather has been really bad, but I was able to get a good solid dry day in the other day. The forecast looks good for the weekend, so I got a couple hard days coming up. Tomorrow I am going for a good climbing workout on the Cobra, a good climb for doing intervals. Just a couple more hard days and then on we go to Valencia, Spain. 

Thanks for reading,

Steven

January 2, 2010
Written by
Steven Cozza

Exploring all the new routes for me here in Warner Robins Georgia has been a lot of fun. I have been able to ride past my first ever cotton fields and even learn how the locals crack pecans that have fallen from the abundant pecan trees. Through Jen’s family and the local bike store, actually dubbed “The Bike Store”, I was able to meet with several local riders to learn some of the best routes in the area. The Garmin does help me out enormously, but it’s always nice to have local knowledge while out on the open roads.

The first week I was here in Georgia was a strict rest week, but this past week has been a bit more intense. I truly feel as if I am at a pre-training, training camp. Rob Caudill, Jen’s father, has even cleaned and polished off my bike just about every day after my ride. It’s so helpful because I leave for my rides knowing that my bike will operate smoothly.

All in all, this has been one of my best winters yet. I am all ready and excited to get to training camp during the middle of January in Valencia and I really look forward for the first races of the season in the Middle East. It is really exciting to be starting off the 2010 season in a place that I have never been to before. I can only imagine what it will be like…

I can’t believe it is already 2010. Time just flies by these days. Happy new years, everyone!

Off to Spain I go,

Steven