Hi there VeloNation readers, this is my first blog entry for the website. It's been a time to catch up on normal life after a lot of racing. Soon we will be midway through the  "off season" for the majority of us cyclists. Most consider this the best time of the year, with vacations plans get made, sleep is extended until 9 am instead of 7am and the bike stays just in eye shot instead of arms length. I have had a great off season so far. My season ended almost as late as it could racing right up until this years insane edition of Lombardia which, considering my first race was the Tour Down Under, made for a long season. That being said, having a long season means one can enjoy the recovery time that much more. As some of you may know I got married this September, so my new wife and I kicked off the the winter break with a backpacking trip to Thailand followed by a road trip to the Basque Country and finally a few weeks in Spain, which spoiled us with amazing temperatures and perfect riding conditions.

I have also had a bit more time to work with an organization I am very passionate about called F*ck cancer. Together we have been able to auction off some cycling paraphernalia, graciously donated by various pros of the peleton, with proceeds going to the promote the importance of early cancer detection. We have also launched F*ck Cancer cycling jerseys and hope to have a full line of cycling kit coming out as well. You can find out a bit more about my connection to F*ck Cancer, and the amazing things they do here: www.letsfcancer.com

On another note, I am making the transition (no pun intended) from Garmin-Transitions to UnitedHealthCare for the 2011 season. I am very excited to be given the opportunity to have a bit more responsibility and pressure to produce results. The races we have scheduled so far are quite impressive, with hard hitters like the Tour of California and a solid schedule of European races which I can't wait to get into. United has a great dynamic and I am looking forward to racing with some great cyclists, some of which were former teammates from days past. My first race with be the Tour de San Luis in Argentina, followed by a team training camp in California.  Then we kick off our European debut in mid February.

For these next few weeks training will be a challenge. Being based out of Vancouver for the winter months means negative temperatures and to top it off, we have already had snow fall in mid November. I have planned a two week de-thaw trip to California for December to prep for Argentina and the coming season, though it seems like the way things are going we'll have have to add another trip in there somewhere.

I look forward to blogging a bit more, its going to be a very exciting season and I am looking forward to sharing it.

Thanks for reading,
Christian