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.