Alles gud in Deutchland

So. Training camp here is pretty much over. Tomorrow we drive north to Hamburg and I get to adjust yet again to a new setting. In theory I have a place to live there, but no-one seems to be really sure exactly where that may be. I'm sure it'll all work out. As with everything related to cycling here things kind of have to come to a head before you get any real concrete solutions. No problems.

We had a team meeting on Monday with the main management figures here at the hotel. We worked out all the details pertaining to equipment, race programs and logistics for the season. It'll be good - we'll have a camper and the team bus at all races where the team has a contract to ride, complete with mechanic, soigneur, and a full stock of reserve equipment. That makes me happy because more than anything I like to know that I have enough stock to cover any possibility on race day. The fact that now I do not have to stress over it myself is a great relief. After that we got some more new stuff - Giro Atmos helmets & hats, nutrition products by Enervit and more Team casual clothing. Quite frankly I don't know what to do with all this stuff!

The team press officer came down yesterday to do a photo shot and interviews for a forthcoming press release. Hopefully there will be updates to the stevens-racing.de website shortly. The photo session was a bit rough since I was still kind of sick and swollen (more on that later), so I made my brief appearance in team kit and went straight back to bed.

Yeah, about that sick thing- I got some really bad allergic reaction mid day on Monday that started in a fairly innocent manner but then by Tuesday got really bad. I went to a local doctor, got an antihistamine that didn't work and spent 2 days in a really not-so-pleasant state. Finally I went with a teammate to the Freiburg university hospital sports med clinic and they hooked me up good. These are the people that take care of the German National cycling teams and a lot of the German profi-teams, so I was in good hands. Really short wait times, good consultation and fast blood work. Got some drugs and almost immediately started feeling better. I was able to make a light training for only one hour on road this morning, but the feeling was good and it should be possible to resume normal training next week. I will not know for 2 weeks or so what the reaction was from, and it is possible that they will not find it in the blood because it may have simply been stress related, although I did not feel especially stressed. Who knows?

Anyway, early next week I will set a training plan with Jens and talk about how I may get into good race form for Canadian Nationals on Nov 5. My first race here will possibly be 1 October at Hardewijk, Ned., but I will for sure be racing in Berlin 3 October. It looks like I will do eight races before returning home for the 2 USGP races in Massachussetts and then Nationals at Barrie.

Hope everyone is doing good at home!
Vielen Dank,
GReain