Journal of professional cyclists Ian MacGregor and Timmy Duggan

Spanish Apartment Hunting and Tour of the Med

What a hectic few weeks it has been for me. Traveling to Europe after training camp and then finding and setting up my new apartment while traveling and racing at the same time is a lot of work! The fact that this whole process takes place in Spain, where nobody even works in the afternoon, makes it all that much more of a process. I started by setting up a Spanish bank account. But first you need a foreign resident number and an address to open said bank account, which you need to have open in order to put a down payment to get into an apartment. So you need a number to get a residence, but you need a residence to get a number. Makes sense right? No. So instead you have to pull strings somewhere to make it all happen. Eventually it all got figured out and I was the new owner of a sweet apartment above town with a great deck overlooking the mountains and the city of Girona. Can’t wait to get the BBQ goin!

Next up was getting stuff to fill my place up and make it homey and comfortable. Made a little tougher without a car and such. It was even worse because my roommate Blake has a hairline fracture in his pelvis from a crash a few weeks ago, so the poor guy is hobbling around town with me on crutches trying to find silverware and dish clothes. I told him I kinda feel like I’m getting married again, going all over the place trying to get new house stuff! Finally now I have a bed and pots and pans and food in the fridge and I’ve never felt so at home in Europe before. What a difference it makes to be able to go to a home between races and not live at hotels or team issue apartments with 6 other guys anymore!

On the racing side of things, I went to southern France for the Tour of the Med last week. A good race to kick it all off, as it was good weather, great roads, a strong field, and short hard stages. Nothing too spectacular form us, we were in all the breaks, had a guy in the top 12 or so overall, but it was nice to get my racing legs back under me.

Upon returning HOME to Girona, (yay!) it was pouring rain for 3 days. Not my idea of relaxing recovery rides, until today when the sun came out. I’ve determined I am now pretty much solar powered. Spending so much time in sunny climates like Boulder and Girona, I only see a few days where it is socked in and raining, and it really makes me claustrophobic and grumpy!

But now the sun is out, I have a house, good legs, and can get into the rhythm of the season.

Next up is the Vuelta Valencia, Feb 24-29, in, um, Valencia. More sun, hopefully.