I’ve been pretty badly behind in updating my blog, although it’s not totally without reason. I’ve been on the road almost nonstop since April, first hitting the US (see the last post), then La Roche-en-Ardenne here in Belgium, then Denmark and Sweden, Switzerland, and a few other spots. And when I wasn’t traveling — and sometimes when I was — I’ve been training hard enough on the bike to have relatively little time for much else.

But I’m slowly catching up. The photos from the US trip are up on Flickr.

The trip was great, with stops in Boulder, Steamboat Springs, where we picked up bikes from my new sponsor, Moots, Topeka and Kansas City, where Mindi’s brother got married, Philly, and New England. And, of course, we had the chance to catch up with lots of family and friends we miss a lot in Europe.

Ready to ride in chilly Steamboat.

Back here in Belgium I headed east to the Ardennes, where I went to some meetings and spend my evenings working out on the brutal Col du Haussire, one of the country’s most difficult climbs. By the standards of Colorado or Switzerland, it’s not so tough, but at 3.3 km with long stretches well above 10% grade, it was tough enough. Hopefully it helped my form.

Then there was Denmark and Sweden (photos coming soon), a working week in Bern, and lots and lots of bike riding here. We also caught a couple of days of the Tour de France as it made its way through Brussels. Photos from all of that are coming really soon.

In a couple of weeks Mindi and I head to Italy. First a few days of sightseeing in Rome, then a trip east where we’ll hit the beaches and do some riding the Apenines, including the Blockhaus, which should wreck my legs a little bit. The Blockhaus was famously the end of a stage of the 2009 Giro, and you can click on the link if you want a sense of what it looks like.

Yesterday marked two months until ‘cross starts for me. I’m counting down. Stay tuned…