It All Comes To An End
Written by Steven Cozza
Friday, 07 October 2005

The season has now come to an end for me. This year was a complete success for me and I am now very excited already about 2006. I will be riding for the D-3 Pro team called Colba from Belgium, run by former Pro Eric Vanderaerden. After the World Championships in Madrid, I went back to Belgium to visit him in the North East corner of Belgium to feel things out and see if it’s what I wanted. I think it is going to be really nice because he has a house behind his that I can live in. It’s like a little cabin, so I will feel like I am camping all the time - haha. (perfect for me) This situation for my development I feel is the best because there will be 8 U-23 riders and 8 older riders on the team and I can learn from them, plus get into bigger races like the Tour of Belgium and such. With just the two days I spent there, I already felt comfortable and a part of the group. Eric’s son and younger brother are both on the team so I will have teammates to train with and hang out with which is really important. I think this team will give me a really good chance to fit into the culture and not feel like such an outcast to the community. I have already begun to learn Dutch and Eric says after being around his family, 2 sons and 2 daughters, I will learn quickly from them. It was cool because I brought my bike so that I could ride for the two days I was there. On the second day’s ride, we started and met with other pros as the ride went on. By the end of the ride we had like 10 pros with us guys like Ludo Derickson and even Tom Boonen sometimes shows up, Michael told me. Training here is very nice with lots of trees and rolling terrain. I believe I will ride very well here in this environment. I found out this last trip here in Belgium that my legs follow my head so being happy each day is important. Michael is close to my age racing his first year as an U-23 so I can relate to him a lot and will be a friend for me along with his other friends. This family is very kind to be taking me under their wings as they are and I feel it is a good bridge for me to my major dreams and goals. Eric has won races like Flanders and Paris Roubaix and those are the style of races that suit me so this is good because I will be able to learn from him on how to win these races the best way possible. I will not know my racing schedule until late November, but as soon as I do, I will post it up here on my site. Now I am buckling down for the off season, taking pretty much all of October off and then starting back up November 1st. It was crazy that I flew home from Europe and left by car the next morning with my girlfriend Jacqui to drive to Disneyland. It was great because I felt like a little kid again and had alot of fun eating Mickey Mouse suckers and junk food. It’s driving me nuts not to be able to touch my bikes but I am forcing myself to take this break because what you do in the off season is what shows during the season and brings in the results. It is just as or even more important than the racing seasons training itself. Some new adventures will be posted soon.

Thanks for reading
Steven