Project: Relocation

I have found a new place to live which I think will be a much better experience than waking up eaten by bugs and having a furnace in front of your face when you use the shower. The new house is in Oselem which on the border of East and West Flanders just south of Gent. This is the premier racing area with racing 7 days a week and multiple races to choose from. My current area has 3-4 races a week and most require a significant ride to get too. The new place is owned by an american pro here on a Belgian team. It should be nice.

Yesterday, I attempted to ride to Liege but turned around about 1/2 way. I didn't really calculate the distance as well as I thought. Legs weren't ready for 200k so it was only a 140k day. The wind was cranking as it seems to always be doing and was right on the nose all the way. At the turnaround in Hasselt, which is a nice large town. Good shopping center with lots of people out. I got a nice large broodje, which is Flemish for a sandwich and a coke, 4,10 euro. Pretty tasty. It was a nice day after a frustrating kermesse on Tuesday night at Mol Rauw. The course had some really tight turns and I was feeling good and following wheels really well but on the last turn into the straightaway, I always seemed to lose the wheel. Bad positioning going into the turn on my part. There was a crosswind at that point but I still managed to get to my 53x11 and hammer down the road at 55+kph. I continued to fall back in the field but managed to hold on longer than i thought as I really worked hard to get back into the peloton. On the way home, feeling frustrated and needing to prove to myself I could push the big speeds, I rode the front all the way home (36km) and average over 38k/h in the dark and including slowing at the roundabouts. Good LT effort. Racing here is completely different. Every race I am learning more about the technique it takes to do well, so eventually things will start turning my way.

Perhaps, I should get all greased up with muscle warming gels and other balms that every belgian seems to be putting on before the race. Racing here is a huge part of the culture as I have mentioned earlier. It seems that everything is taken care of by moms, dads, girlfriends, or managers for the belgian riders. I guess you could equate it too the youth sports parents who get overly involved and buy their kids everything they need. Seems to be pretty apparent here. Ohh well, I prefer my go it alone style right now. It makes me work harder.

So today was a nice day on the bike. I went for the tri-weekly group ride that rolls by the house at 1:20pm. The ride typically sees 100+ riders and I think we saw close to that number today. It was a mix of continental pros, a few pro tour riders, lots of old dudes and some young pups like myself. The group splits into a two and its double paceline for the entire 70k with average speed around 35k/h. No attacking, just steady and jumps out of the corners and stops. I casually rode on the road waiting for the group to catch up. When the first group arrived, I heard about 5 people say, "group 2!" and finger the number two in the air. Grabbed onto the last wheel in the 2nd group. Cyclocross phenom, Sven Njis was in the first group in his Rabobank kit and some Quickstep rider was in my group along with some other continental pros. Just another group ride I guess...Pretty cool stuff that you could get a 100 people out for a group ride at 1pm on a weekday. Belgians really know what its all about. There was a guy in our group who sat on the front for a long time. He had to have been 70+yrs old. Unbelievable! I am sure there were a few ex-pros in the groups that raced long ago, but I have not idea who they are.

Until next time...
Tot Ziens,
Matthew