Instead of sitting on the bike like most days, yesterday I took hold of a fishing rod. Five of us headed out onto the ocean in a fishing boat. I caught four fish, relaxed and really just had a blast. Enough that I can imagine grabbing the pole again sometime and heading out to cast a lure. By the end of three hours we had ten good looking fish to present to the boat's owner.

He in turn immediately organised a grill party, as we learned today. I already have three training days behind me. The conditions are a summery 30 degrees ' in other words, super. Yet I still need to keep my nose pinned to the handlebars.

A week in bed with flu means that I've lost some ground. Mostly I'm chugging along in the back. But I'm convinced that things are headed in the right direction. Riding with the strongest would not be good.

Luckily I have the freedom to ride however I feel best. In the past three days we've been in the saddle for around 13 hours. On the last day before the break we even managed to put 180 kilometres behind us. Afterward I was seriously beat.

Now another block of four training days awaits. What's important is not to get derailed from my strategy of remaining cool and keeping one pedal following the other. After the training sessions I'll crawl back to the hotel room and try to recover as best I can for the start of the season. My first race will be in early February at the Tour of Qatar.

Summery regards! Fabian.