In my last installment for my Pedal column I reflected on the start of the season and my challenges for the upcoming racing schedule. Well the true Classics are upon us now and a good chunk of my early season races have come and gone with the next batch about to begin.

Volta ao Algarve was a great start and went just as well as I had hoped with a result of 15th overall. Good hard racing in Portugal (the race was won by Alberto Contador) was just what I needed to start off my season. Next came Monte Paschi Eroica in Italy where I had wanted to give myself a chance to stand on the podium! Even though that didn't happen I improved on my previous two years 10th place finishes and was in the final selection going for the win! The podium was right there but I was unable to match the pace of the top 3 riders. I was able to hang on to 5th place out of a really solid field and was pleased to ride well once again throughout the extreme conditions of the rolling hills of Tuscany. That is truly a beautiful race and I am happy to have made my mark on it. Needless to say I'll be looking forward to that race in 2011!

Read more: Ryder’s Blog – March 31, 2010

I will start this entry just as Garmin-Transitions team training camp in Calpe Spain has come to an end. It was a perfect training block with great weather (minus a couple wet days) and beautiful riding. Our hotel was right on the beach-which is always a nice bonus! Camp was full of energy with new people, bikes, clothing, ideas and equipment. Especially sweet for 2010 are the new smaller and lighter Garmin Edge 500 race computers as well as photochromic Transitions Lenses equipped glasses. This technology will surely provide an added advantage on the road and compliment all the existing top-level equipment that all of our sponsors provide!

The start of the year is always buzzing with excitement for the new seasons opportunities. Looking back to the start of last season I find it was a bit strange for me to start without camp and I appreciate the opportunity to spend some time with the team before setting out to race. Camp last year was in Silver City, New Mexico so it was not possible; instead I went directly to Girona after Australia’s Tour Down Under. This was the case for most of the guys Down Under this year, although most came straight to Spain and made it to the last part of camp and it was good to see them. Everyone was extremely positive as camp wound down and we all took off in different directions to start the next steps of our preparation and racing.

Read more: Hello Pedal Magazine readers!

Unfriendly fire in France

We’ll take the rain, we’ll take the cold. We’ll take the crashes and we’ll take the defeats but on today’s stage something happened that we’ll never accept as bike racers: getting shot at. Yeah, that's right, you heard me correctly - getting shot at.

My teammate, Julian Dean, was unbelievably shot at with an air gun during today’s stage and was hit in the hand. It goes without saying that it’s not something you really expect in a cycling race. Maybe it was kids being stupid or we’d hit a small French town that had never seen the Tour and decided to open fire on a moving peloton, but anyone having that kind of intent is scary. Who knows what the meaning of that was?

The stage itself was good for me and I had good legs, unlike yesterday when I was struggling after my crash the previous day. Today it was all about keeping Bradley Wiggins and Christian Vande Velde out of trouble and sticking with them on the climbs, giving them as much assistance as I could. It took a while for things to settle down today but once a break had gone up the road we were able to relax a bit as there was no one threatening to the overall.

Read more: Cyclingnews.com Blog (July 17, 2009)

Here's a link to a painful moment last year - good and bad pain - Monte Paschi Eroica .

Its on the mind as it is my next race on my calendar and I am thinking back to what could of been! Riding in the main early break of the day, soloing for 30 kms out of it, railing multiple sectors alone all the way to the last part of the strada bianca (white gravel roads) and envisioning a solo victory in Sienna. Then with less than 10kms Fabian Cancellara and Alessandro Ballan (probably the two strongest guys in the world at that point) bridge up to me. I was still looking at a pretty sweet podium finish, win or lose, then Cancellara put in a acceleration and that was it, they were gone! All I could do was wait for what was left of the peloton and break survivors to come up and go from there. Maaskant was in the chase and I managed to cover moves to help keep the rest of the race together for a shot at 3rd and he had a run for the podium to place 4th, me 10th after a full out day!

Just trying to do the work here in Girona ( did six hours today - about 40kms of gravel ) to better that day - maybe I'll make another solo attempt from 40 kms out?

And I'll hope Cancellara and Ballan aren't chasing!

Ryder

Well I made it... I'm back in G-Town(Girona). My home away from home for the European race season. After around 24 hours of plane rides over the course of last two days I have arrived to sunny sky's here in Spain. Perhaps not as warm as down under, but sunny skies, none the less. Tour Down Under finished off well (minus losing 10th in the GC on the last day due to time bonuses out on the circuit) and I still managed to race on the attack till the very end. And in the end, it was really beneficial early season racing and the Australian hosts did such an unbelievable job making it a very desirable date on the calendar. I will be putting my name in for next year! Now it is time to get settled here in Spain and work towards the next objectives - Tour de Med and the Italian classics in March! After the way I felt in the ProTour opener, I'm very excited for the upcoming racing in '09 and look forward to this new season that is upon us!