Bonjour!

Switzerland is amazing! We have spent the entire week checking out cool little villages and driving to some incredible mountains.

All you can eat chocolate at the Collier Chocolate Factory.  Rode to Lauterbrunnen (foot of the Eiger in the Alps) and met Beth, Holly and Noah for the gondola and train to Murrin.  Climbed (on bike of course) to Col De Jamen, 2hrs and 4,500ft  above our apartment in Montreux on some killer mountain roads.  Various adventures involving our rented VW Caddy Life.  Lunch in Chaminox at the foot of Mont Blanc.  Dinner at the restaurant / home du Pont in one of the coolest historic streets here in Montreux.

And we're just getting started with the World Cup in Champery tomorrow.  175 men ready for chaos on 4km of impossibly muddy, technical trails at the base of some more crazy alps.  Pre-riding was tough with lots of walking and tri-poding in the mud while only smoothly railing a few sections of the course.  It all ended with my derailleur and hanger ripped from the frame and snapped in half.  Standing in the woods on the other side of the world with no support I really thought I got myself in too deep going for the world cups.

But with a little prayer (and help from Shimano) things came back together and tomorrow I'll give it a go.  I've had a good balance of enjoying the experience on this trip while staying fresh enough to give the races my best shot.  I've realized that this may not be the time and place for me to reach new levels in my performance though.  Finding my full potential is ultimately what I'm after in racing - even more so than results or being able to say I've raced a world cup.  This is more about the experience of lining up along the best in the world and seeing what is possible so I can continue going after breakthroughs of my own...