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.