Belgium - Week One

Well what a week it has been!

I flew out of Italy and into Belgium, where the weather for the first few days was wonderful, with sunshine creating temperatures between 28-30 degrees and no wind around.

My training got off to a great start on Tuesday with a bunch ride of 120 km. Wednesday was another day out on the road with a slow endurance session. I got completely lost when out riding and am pretty sure I went in and out of Holland about 10 times, eventually finding a sign back to the village where I am living in Belgium. Thursday was a trainer session in the morning and the same 120km bunch ride. I was starting to know my way around the loop but every road looks the same and with no street signs it makes every ride an adventure. Friday was my warm up/rest day leading into my first weekend of racing. 

Saturday was my first ever kermesse and wow it was fun! There were 87 riders starting on a course that was 6km long and doing 22 laps equalling 132km. I got off to a great start with a small break away on the second lap that stayed away for about 30km before being brought back. With 20km to go I found myself stuck behind a fall and never got back onto the bunch. This was a little disappointing because I always like to finish what I start. There were about 30 riders left at that stage, with a break of ten about 45 seconds up the road. I had good cool down on the rollers after the race in preparation for the Cross Country race the next afternoon. 

Typical of Belgium, it was raining and cold yet it didn’t appear to bother any of the other riders. We arrived at the Flanders Cup at around 830 in the morning, with practice being from 8-1030. Racing was to start at 11 with the Women's and Junior grades up first. It was raining on and off all morning with sneak peaks of the sun every so often but not getting above 12 degrees. Some summer! I watched all the racing from the warmth of the car as the elite and U/23 men's race was not till 3pm. 

The course was getting more and more chopped out in each race and by the time it was my turn there was not a dry section of track to be seen. It had just become a massive mud bath. I was about 5 rows back on the elite field grid and with a good start loop and first lap I came through on the start of the second lap in about 18th position. I think in the first few laps I spent more time on the ground or sliding side ways than actually going forward. I simply started picking off riders each lap and found it better when I was following a local rider who knew all the corners. By the last lap I was in 12th overall and sitting 5th in the U/23s. Not passing anyone in the last lap these ended up being my finishing positions.

I had so much fun out there and when I started to get the hang of riding in the mud it became so much easier. I discovered that it's all about being smooth and that power doesn’t really mean anything. I also found a good set of tyres is a huge plus. Looking around the pits before the race and I saw most people had a set of drys and a set of intermediate tyres. As I have been running the Schwalbe Racing Ralphs all year I made the call to run them again. Looking around on the grid I had a little laugh to myself as I realised that more than half the field were also running the Racing Ralphs. They were such a great tyre for the race, being fast on the road sections and clearing the mud everywhere else, giving plenty of grip. 

After a great first week in Belgium I cannot wait to see what’s ahead in the coming weeks.