English
Since the bike blog I last posted I headed off to Belgium for a week of racing and training. Staying with the family who I previously lived with in 2004, Patrick and Mieke was again wonderful. Their hospitality, humour and general “them being them” makes things easier.
I started out by heading over to stay a night with Camille McMillan, top photographer of this book. He was following Team Sky during their Spring Classics campaign in Belgium. So was staying in their hotel. Fans were loitering around the hotel all day and had been for the past few weeks hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars, sadly, they got a glimpse of me heading out on my bike on the morning of the Tour Of Flanders (RVV). I had to explain to a fan I was not a Team Sky rider. So off I set, out for a spin on the bike before heading back to the hotel to watch the RVV on TV. I decided to do a couple of the climbs of the race, and even bumped into my parents who were out there watching the race. Quite a challenge considering that the roadside figures were quite simply amazing. Went home, watched it on tv. Job done. So then I headed off to Beveren, to my base at Patrick & Miekes house. This is ideal for me, away from the distractions and close to the quiet roads of Holland, where I love to train in the head/cross winds. You can see no cars for ages, just cows.
So Monday was a day on the bike, a nice hard 3 hour ride, big efforts into the wind with short recovery in between. Tuesday was not such a good day, raining. And a planned physio session with the renowned David Bombeke. Suffering from injuries and problems of late I made contact with David and off I set. After a good examination, I was told the left side of my pelvis was blocked. So David loosened it up. I love the relief and sound of the cracking of bones, so this was wonderful. Also, a massage into my problematic right hamstring was well received. Quite frankly, I left feeling loose, and not at all tense. Wonderful, just a shame he lives all the way out there!
Wednesday was a kermesse race at Schoten. For those of you who do not know about Kermesse races, they are usually between 100-120km in distance, based on a circuit of between 5-10km. The race usually begins and ends in the center of the town which is hosting the day’s race. The race will occupy the roads in town as well as the roads surrounding, either city streets or farmland. The course has a rolling enclosure. This means that while the race is not passing through, the streets are open to traffic. But you will never encounter a car coming towards you. The public are understanding of the whole scene and get involved.
This race was hot, approx 25c, unusual for early April in Belgium! 271 riders, yes, 271 riders! Based around an 8km circuit. Sounds a lot right? Yes, it was. The biggest field I had ever raced in, and the first time racing in Belgium since 2005… ouch, the usual fast setting pace. Very fast. I got until about half distance before the elastic snapped one time to many so I called it a day. Plenty of crashes I was held up in and around made the race more like an interval session. Still, I enjoyed it.
Thursdays day was spent with a nice 4 hour ride, the last 40mins or so tucked in behind a scooter that I came across from the outskirts of Gent, nearly all the way home to Beveren. At this point I remembered I was racing the next day, damn! Hopefully this wasn’t too much the day before another Kermesse. I cancelled a booked physio session with Bombeke so I could race on the Friday.
Friday came and to be honest, my legs felt terrible. So, onwards I went. Compression tights on, sat-nav set, Mieke in the passenger seat. Roadworks meant we had a total nightmare trying to get to the race in Zonderschot. Following a diversion in the town of Lier, meant many dead end roads and generally wasting about 1hr in traffic. Oh well! Got to the race with approx 30mins before the start. Rapidly signed on, paid my €8 entry fee and had a small warm up. Bumped into a few Brits who I know and also made acquaintances with a couple of Kiwi’s who Patrick & Mieke know. This was to play out well in the race. This race had approx 250 riders around a 5.5km circuit. Very narrow roads. At this point, may I say just how much I love this style of racing. Its eyeballs out from the gun. But in a respected way. Because everyone is ok with this.
Jostling for position on every corner, fantastic. On the second lap (out of twenty) I hit a big bump in the road and lost a waterbottle. Hmm, this is going to be a tough one. It was a warm evening, and due to the panic/rush to get to the race I hadn’t drank much on the way. I also didn’t want to interrupt Mieke, who was on a photography assignment at the race, (only joking Mieke). Communication would of been a problem too, and besides, there was quite a crowd out watching the race.
So I soldiered on, trying to grab bottles from the hands of other riders helpers. This was not welcomed by them, as they snatched them away at the last second. So, I located one of the Kiwis in the bunch and asked him for a quick swig of water. Thanks Shane. Was very kind of you! Then with a lap to go I saw a friend of a friend, so managed a mouthful from him too, he wasn’t so quick to hand the bottle over! It was all going ok, but the bunch sprint, a slight mechanical made me end up in approx 50th position, not bad considering the size of the field and also being totally dehydrated!
The following day a nice ride around in Holland, until I saw across a field a group training on a parallel road, knowing there was a junction for both of us approaching, I raced to it with the intention of joining them for a nice ride. Woah. Joining them was one thing, however, they suddenly started riding à bloc. I was a little tired from the day before, but still, very good fun and they loved this foreign guy joining in and helping them ride flat out into a headwind. When we reached literally the end of the road, we parted our ways and I rode home. A fantastic end to a great week.
Then last Wednesday I raced a local circuit race, 12th in the race after some quite frankly, dangerous moves from riders in front of me in the sprint. I was disappointed and also was feeling the hamstring pulling slightly.
Sunday saw me race the Tesco Rutland – Melton International CiCLE Classic. Dead, that’s one way to describe how I felt. Right from the very start I felt terrible, legs wouldn’t work and generally just felt poor. No explaining these things sometimes, so after the first off-road sector, I called it a day. I guest rode for the East Midlands/S.G. LifeCiCle team for the day and apologise to my team-mates for a poor performance, but I cannot explain it.
So the end of a couple of varied weeks. I have some more physio and foot analysis planned for the near future, so I am hoping to rid myself of these niggles I seem to keep getting.
