I'm not riding today. This is as much of a down period as I get. There was a couple weeks after Labor Day when I didn't touch the bike then I had to start gearing up for 'cross. This period around the holidays is typically my other relaxed time of year. I'll still get in some good rides but if I skip days, who cares. Come January though you need to seriously start thinking about the start of the season if you wish to do well early.

Speaking of next year, I need to pull out next year's tentative schedule and try to pick what races to do well in. My lack of discipline causes any plans to soon go out the window but its good to look at them occasionally to keep you on some semblance of a training plan.

News Item of the Day: The possibility that the six-time Tour de France champion would race Spain's national tour was floated at Wednesday's launch of the 2005 Vuelta route. Armstrong has not yet decided if he will ride the Tour de France, and has hinted that he might seek other challenges in 2005, such as the Classics, the hour record and the Vuelta. "If Armstrong comes, he had better be well prepared because he will find strong opposition," Illes Balears directeur sportif Eusebio Unzue told As.

Liberty Seguros director Manolo Saiz welcomed the idea of Armstrong's participation in the Vuelta. "It would be stupendous if [Armstrong] rode the Tour as well as the Vuelta. It would be just what cycling needs."

Roberto Heras doubts it will happen though. Although Heras rode on Armstrong's US Postal team (Discovery Channel for 2005), he says he only knows him "Professionally. I really don't know what happens in his head. But I don't think we will see him at the Vuelta. I think he will ride the Tour."

Viewpoint: I like the Vuelta but when I watch the impression I get is that the competition is a definite notch below. Maybe Unzue is right and the Spanish teams would gang up on Armstrong but it's hard to imagine them beating a focused Armstrong.