Belgium Wrap Up

My time racing in Belgium went by really fast as any awesome trip does. It was, by far, the best racing experience I’ve ever had. I learned a lot, not only about racing, but about the country, the people, and its culture which I’ve come to fall in love with. The old cities with narrow cobbled roads, tons of people riding bikes, countless little café’s, awesome people, and great beer make for a truly unique country vastly different from here in the states. The racing was probably some of the hardest I’ve done, but the most thrilling and exciting, especially the interclub’s which are crazier than any race you can imagine. Belgium is the center of the world for bike racing, and shortly after arriving I knew my three weeks there was going to be nowhere near long enough. I wanted to stay for the duration of summer as the racing in America can’t compare. It was to be, and then not to be, as I worked everything out to stay but my team here in the states wanted me to race in America for the summer. It will hopefully turn out alright but what it could have been, I won’t know, at least until I go back, which hopefully I’ll make sooner than later.

Lotenhulle & Drongen

Lotenhulle on Wednesday started out pretty quick like every race here. The course was very sweet with tons of people downtown and a lot of twists and turns with some good windy sections. The break went off the front but never got out of reach to catch by the finish so the racing behind stayed aggressive. I bridged up to a chase group which eventually had about 15 guys but four of us then got off the front to try and catch the front group. A few riders dropped off the front group which diminished to 2 and we then had 6 including some pretty good riders. The finish came too quick to catch the front group so we were sprinting for 3rd and I came out 6th. Not a bad day.
Thursday was an evening race which meant tons of people watching and more in the field which led to a fast race. The course was a cool figure eight with two overpasses as hills for a change from the dead flat. There were primes every lap and after the early break got brought back I managed to get a few Euro’s. Going into the last few laps, a field sprint seemed imminent but a group of 12 or so slipped off the front that I unfortunately missed. I had a good sprint to get 17th and top five in the bunch sprint.

(After one of the sprint primes)

Our next race is Sunday which is Memorial Ph. Van Coningsloo UCI 1.2 (http://www.memorial-vanconingsloo.be/index.php) . It is a pretty big race and I’m really excited going into it as I feel my form coming around and my knee getting better so I’m hoping for the best. Fortunately we have a good stretch of sunny weather here for our 2 easy days. We’re enjoying some awesome sunsets over the North Sea every night but the water is a touch cold to swim.

Hooglede-Sleihage

Hooglede-Sleihage was my first race here in Belgium on Sunday. After watching the race Saturday, I saw how the race unfolded from a bystander’s point of view which of course is much different from seeing it from inside the race. I knew the race would start out blistering fast so staying up front is key as gaps in the field open up right away with the cross winds. The one key section of the course that would cause the most gaps was on this narrow false flat, cross wind stretch that everyone was in the gutter for. The better you can position yourself in the draft the less energy you will expend but that ideal position was about a foot to the right of the side of the road. This is where the term ‘trimming the grass’ is from as you are riding as close to the edge of the road as you can with your pedals clipping the grass as well as bushes along the side of the road. People as well for some reason like to stand here so you are also desperately close to clipping them but you’re more focused on the wheel in front of you so you tend not to pay too much attention to the amount of close calls. I raced aggressively which probably was not the smartest as I started to get tired toward the end but by then there were less than 15 riders in the main group with 5 up the road. The racing here almost seems as if you are racing to stay away from the group behind you instead of trying to catch the group in front of you. Also, team tactics is much less because even if you have a rider up the road, you still chase. With about a lap to go of 19, or so, a thunderstorm came through with torrential rain, hail that stung and left marks, and crazy winds that about blew you off the road. With this, the group pretty much blew apart and finished in ones and twos. I unfortunately was pretty spent after trying to get away with one to go but it’s a learning process so next time I’ll hopefully time it right.

Westende, Belgium

Belgium is awesome, in one word. I arrived here Wednesday after a long flight and was exhausted but the train ride to Brussels and then to Brugge kept me awake as cities and the country side went flying by. It was of course cold, windy, and raining that day, exactly what I expected, so to finally see it and realize that I’m finally here felt good.

We are at an apartment in Westende which is in the north right along the sea. It is a bit weird to be in Belgium and to be on the coast but it is very cool. Here it’s a little more touristy and lacks the old style towns we ride through everyday which although are very close. The riding is awesome. Small little back roads along with the canal paths are some of my favorite. The one major difference between here and riding at home is that you better stay awake as you’re very close to everything whether it be cars, traffic furniture or shrubbery. Yesterday we rode through some awesome towns including Vueron as well as Brugge which is very sweet. It had narrow cobbled streets with tons of shops and café’s with people milling about and riding their bikes everywhere. Something you never see in America. Hopefully we’ll get to spend a bit more time there.

Our first race will be tomorrow although I’m not sure if it will be my first race here. I’ve been battling a muscle strain but hopefully with a few position adjustments will heal up quickly. I’m a bit lax in taking pictures so hopefully I’ll start taking some more and get a few from the other guys. Thanks for reading.
~Adam

Pre-Season and The Spring

Every successful racing season starts long before the first race is even thought about. Luckily I love winter so the cold and snow in the Northeast just adds more ways for one to train. Cross country skiing, climbing, as well as many miles on snowy roads brought me into the fitness I needed for a training camp for two weeks in early March in Tucson with Mazur Coaching. It was a valuable experience, getting to know the guys and getting some warm miles in before the start of the season.


I did a short stage race there but had a slow start to racing once back home as many of the early season races were cancelled. Coming through April into May, I began racing more and found a number of podiums as well as winning one in early May.

Now I'm heading into what I've been training all winter for, lots of big races. I'll be doing an NRC race this weekend in Wilmington, DE as well as one in Baltimore, MD, and then I am flying out to Belgium for 3 weeks. I'm really excited for this trip as I've never raced abroad and just the learning experience will be huge.

So that's where I'm at currently, and hopefully I'll make for a good read. I encourage you to leave comments, what you like, want to hear more of, criticisms, anything. Thanks for reading.
~Adam

Just a Test

New to this blog thing so we'll see how it goes. Look here for updates on races, adventures and anything exciting from my travels. I'll try to keep it interesting with more than just what happened, and I'll try to post some pics to give more of an insight on the experiences.
~Adam