Matej Mohoric
CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING
As you’ll have picked up from my first diary, I’ve been on the road a lot, training in California then racing in Australia. After two and a half months, you can imagine how nice it was to come home to Slovenia and see my girlfriend, family and friends.
Aside from the people in my life, one thing I really missed was my home roads. Compared to the ones I’ve encountered on my travels, Slovenian roads are much smoother. Not in the sense there are less potholes or they’re better maintained – I just feel as though I don’t need to push as hard to keep the same speed. Maybe it’s something to do with the tarmac or maybe it’s just their familiarity but that’s how it feels.
Coming back to Slovenia also got me excited about training solo again. Overseas I trained mostly with the team but after weeks without solo riding, I’d really started to miss it. It allows me to pace my ride as I wish. Sometimes you can ride hard and nobody will give you that look. You can stop any time you need or not at all – it’s up to you.
Of course, there are some things I don’t miss. I’ve spent so much time in the warmth under clear blue skies these last few months that returning to the clouds and rain and the cold wasn’t something I was crazy about. It was slightly better compared to how I used to feel when I was super skinny but who wouldn’t notice a 50°C change in temperature?
It was good to get a few days off when I got back to Slovenia, what with the jetlag and recovery needed from racing. Some easy riding, and adapting to an old climate and time zone – I cannot complain about that. Those weeks racing in Australia were my first at this level so sleeping came very easy to me during the first few days back home.
Naturally, the rest didn’t last for long and it was soon back to racing. The legs were already better for Trofeo Laigueglia and I could feel those racing kilometres from Australia starting to pay off. I was also glad I didn’t immediately catch a cold after such a dramatic change in temperature. I shouldn’t have counted my chickens so soon, though, because a week later, a few days before my next race at GP Lugano, I eventually caught that cold. Even though I struggled, I was fine because in my head I knew my races, the ones that suit my strengths, were still just around the corner.