I took the sprint tomorrow as an excuse not to worry about missed training this week. It was not really this bad, actually. On Monday, I took out the TT bike and rode it around my new hilly route. I was not little surprised how much faster the TT is, compared to the road bike. After all I have read in magazines and online forums, I had not expected the TT bike had this much advantage on an undulating course. Now I can rule out the option to use the road bike in Wiesbaden.

On Tuesday, I went running. I realized I can run 16k at a decent pace, but am nonetheless content I have no marathon scheduled this year. At the moment, I cannot sustain the pace over a longer distance, I’m afraid. Wednesday took me to the UK, where I completed two rounds of lake Windrush (no photos this time, sorry). Thursday, nothing ecxcept for a sandwich from the van and airport fare. Friday, a shorter bike ride in anticipation of the Sunday sprint, including a round on the race course. It went rather fine, but my bike had developed an embarassing squeak that constitutes a gross violation of the Principle of Silence, as laid out in rule 65. It was so unnerving that today, against all conventional wisdom, I took my tools to the bike and disassembled pedals and cranks, cleaned and regreased them and nailed everything back together. In the nice weather we enjoy, I had to use a parasol, F1-style. Now I need those nice heating blankets they use for the tires pre-race…

A test ride seemed to indicate a very positive result – no noise but the whoosh from the Xentisses could be heard. With the haircut this morning and the shave an hour ago, I think I might be prepared.