I considered riding this morning. The radar looked clear but I kept seeing a few raindrops on the ground and rain was in the forecast. I put off riding and if the weather was still good in the afternoon I was going to ride the road. Instead, the rain rolled in and I rolled on the trainer.

That was fine with me. I wanted to do some longer efforts and the trainer is always a good controlled environment. I warmed up for 20 minutes and started a series of 10-minute efforts. The were not killer efforts but enough to make the legs burn and by the end of the third effort I was glad they were over. I finished off with 40 minutes of tempo riding. Total ride time was 2hrs and I was happy to climb out of the saddle. Next time I try 2hrs it will be easier. Not all that long ago I was easing into the trainer with an hour ride. I am satisfied.

Viewpoint: Rider of the Year: Tom Boonen. Tom had a teriffic year with any number of sprint victories (2 at Qatar, 2 at Paris-Nice, 2 at the Tour, 2 at Tour of Belgium, 1 at Tour of Picardy and 2nd place at Het Volk) but ultimately it is hard to pass over winning Roubaix, Flanders and the World Championships. A teriffic year and worthy of Rider of the Year.

I still have the inclination to give this award to Hincapie, though. His year was better than his somewhat more well known former teammate. George didn't have the garish number of wins that Boonen had but consider what he did win and how. He won a sprint finish at Grand Prix Ouest-France, he won in breakaways at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and stage 7 of the Dauphine, he won the prologue TT at the Dauphine and of course the mountainous Stage 15 of the Tour. That is a teriffic well rounded season with wins just about every possible type of win. Add in 2nd place at Roubaix, 3rd overall at the Dauphine, 6th Tirreno-Adriatico, 7th at Flanders and 14th at the Tour. That is one hell of a year.