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MASSEMEN – WETTEREN 12-09-2011

A storm was lashing England, the tour of Britain stage was called off, we had reports of 70kmph winds and rain started as we rode to the start of our race. A 109kms around a tight 3.2km course with nowhere to hide. The headwind part was slight crosswind so you got pushed to the edge of the road. There is no draft in the tail wind sections and the crosswind section was always going to be tough. With only 40 starters I knew there was going to be carnage.

The Belgians never, ever race two days in a row. This is only for New Zealand and Australian riders. So telling a Belgian your legs are still sore from yesterday’s race does not compute. They look at you blankly like you just spoke Russian...or Luxemburgish. My legs were still sore from yesterday’s race. I confirmed this in the first lap ……Ouch.

I was ok though so hit the crosswind at the front as hard as I could on the 5th lap. I turned around and the bunch was in one line. I flicked my arm to tell the next rider to come through. Instead of rolling hard he attacks for 5 secs max (no joke) then sits up thinking he has established the break. He achieves nothing. I am angry, my legs are cooked for the time being and no rider continues the pain. Arrrh I wish I was stronger. No one wants to break the race to pieces, like in NZ, they would prefer to “jump away” like a hero.

I suffer for a few laps from the efforts I had been doing trying to break the field. I then change to “jumping away” know very well I am just shooting blind hoping someone will sit up. That doesn’t happen. I sit in for two laps and refresh. I lay down everything I have again in the crosswind then around the corner and into the headwind. Riders are in one line but happy to follow. A very strong rider jumps me, then another one and another. I fly backwards through the bunch paying the price for my effort. I grab last wheel and start heaving. Three more tight corners go by and I am toast. POP I am out. I ride to the finish tell them I am out. I watch the race come back around, four riders then a gap two riders then a gap 6 riders then 10 riders who were the leftovers of the bunch. Gutted. I helped start that detonation but wish I was stronger to help finish it off. I pulled off at the halfway mark.

I probably sound bitter but I’m not. I did the whole race with a smile on my face. It is hard to see progression in Belgium because every race you are on the ropes from the start. The difference is how much you see the front or how many times an old timer yells at you. I am seeing the front lots and not getting yelled too much anymore so I’ll take those as positives. 

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HANDZAME 11-09-2011

I am back. After being on antibiotics for over a week I am back to full health and ready to race. I do not think it is wise to race when not 100%. Your body is trying to fight an infection so let it. By racing you are only delaying that process and not making the gains you would if healthy. Now that I am back to 100% I am back to racing full gas.

Handzame was a 60km car ride from Gent. The course was completely flat (as always) but the wind was blowing about 40kmph so enough to make it tough. I cut a lap of the 5.8km circuit for my warm up. The wind seemed to be on a slight angle to a long straight so should make the race more interesting. The last km was very tight with three 90° turns. Staff (manager) told me to watch numbers 18 and 38. Ready to roll.

Like always the pace was on from the start with attacks coming every two seconds. I found 18 WOW! He was massive! He looked like an All Black on a bike. On the second lap 38 attacked, I bridged across to him, went over him and pulled my lap completely in the red zone. I then heard and felt him touch my wheel. Bam he went down at about 50kmph and it sounded bad. Sweet, 38 was taken care of, now just to find 18. Just kidding - I am not that brutal! I found 38 after the race to see if he was all right. He admitted he was not watching and clipped my wheel. He was fine – just missing some skin.

The race went on with a lot of attacks. Once we hit the halfway mark the crosswind started to play a part. I pushed the pace one lap and then the next lap I was on the edge of getting dropped. Each time through the crosswind the bunch got rid of one more rider. With 3 laps remaining there was only 38 riders left. Number 18 hit the front and had every rider on the ropes but to no avail as we had all made it through the selections before.

I pulled a very hard lap for our team captain in the last km but not luck. Two riders still had 20secs. I sprinted in for 21st after another crazy finish. I’m happy to be back in the bunch racing but also now feeling a lot more confidant. Another race tomorrow.

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Race in Evengem Race 1 out of 2

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21-08-2011 Evergem

I was confident and excited to have another go at exactly the same race that I messed up in the sprint. The goal was to get into the top 30 and make some money. This would also show some progression so it is not always about money. There was a small field this time, 60 starters, which some would say would make the race easier. But a small field means you have to do a lot more chasing and it also allows riders to clip away.

The race started fast and was pushed along by the usual excited riders. This soon stopped after 5 laps and the pace settled to a consistent fast pace. I tried more than a few times to get a move going. The closest I got was about 1 minute with our team leader Mario. I thought we had done it but as quickly as we had got a minute over the bunch it disappeared again.

As soon as I was swallowed by the bunch another move went. This move did not come back. I was gutted but that is bike racing for you. I was trapped in the bunch for the rest of the race. I positioned myself well on the last lap and hit the bunch just before the hairpin 200meters from the finish. I won the bunch sprint by about 30 meters. I placed 16th and am very happy with my first result in Europe.

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18-08-2011 OOSTERZELE

I just finished a training camp in Luxemburg with my good friend Alex Meenhorst. I was feeling fresh and excited to be racing again. This was race was on a flat course. It had a very tight right hand bend into a very skinny lane. It was made worse by the fact that we came off a highway. Each lap resulted in a bunch sprint for the bend. There was a hairpin 200m from the finish line. 23 laps, 145 starters.

After one lap neutral I knew it was going to be a tough day. I say it in every race report but moving to the front is all you do. It is what you have to be thinking the whole race. . . . I moved to the front. After 6 laps riders too far back started to lose touch. After 10 laps we had a selection of 80 riders left. A couple of breakaways had failed and the race was more-or-less together. I tried for a few laps to get into a breakaway but it was not happening. With 6 laps I turned around to find only 45 riders left.

4laps left and I had been dropped from the bunch. One too many attacks and I was cooked. I keep trying with completely dead legs but the bunch rode away another 30 metres. Then that was it, they sat up! I rode back into the bunch and straight to the front like get out of jail free card. Anything I did in this race from now was going to be a bonus. I sat there and made sure I was top 10 out of the finial hairpin. I was tenth wheel. I stood up to sprint and cramped so bad, calves, thighs and hamstrings. Gutted the bunch rolled on by. I got 31st one place from the money!!

Cramp: some say lack of water, other salt. I say it is fatigue of your muscles. In my mind cramp means you have pushed yourself to muscular exhaustion. I was wreaked and need to get stronger. It will come.

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23-07-2011 Lierde

My first race was on Saturday two weeks ago. It was an interesting day, three hours out from the start I still hadn’t been told anything about the race (including start time or place) apart from the fact that I was racing.  So my first encounter with the team boss, Staff, was pretty stressful! In the end, I got to the race on time with the correct money and licence. I was very nervous but not scared. The course was pretty hard with two climbs and very tight corners.  Comparatively, the racing seemed as fast as in Australia but it lasts 2 1/2 hours instead of just one. It is not as fast at the start but there is a progressive speed increase as the race goes on. Going into the race I was expecting a thrashing considering I had not raced in three months. I made it halfway through the 120km race. This was not as bad as I had expected. I felt comfortable with the result and actually pretty excited as I knew that with a few races under my belt the front bunch would be within my reach. In this race 35 riders finished out of the 167 starters.

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26/27-07-2011 Deinze

My second and third races were held on the following Tuesday and Wednesday in a place called Deinze. They were both very fast circuits – a little bit more to my liking. The first one was going well until I felt something hit my knee. I looked down and my Garmin head unit was gone! Arrrrh I was feeling comfortable in the bunch but man $500NZL just fell off my bars. I pulled to the side and found my computer. In Belgium there is no support for races and no laps out for crashes or mechanicals so if you loose touch with the bunch you get pulled. I decided to join back in the race but a lap down. I stayed at the back and talked to the marshals who let me stay there. I finished the race and was happy to be able to do that, as the back is always the hardest place to sit.

On Wednesday I was feeling good and more like a cyclist who was allowed to be there. The race was very similar to the day before with one exception, a hairpin. This made it very important to stay near the front. I fought hard for bunch position and stayed in the top third. Towards the end I was feeling strong and went for a dig. I split the bunch! I was quite surprised. The winning move was up the road already so it wasn’t for the win, but I did succeed in getting a lot of junk out the back. I was feeling confident with myself maybe a bit too confident. I pushed a small chase group off the front then boom I fell off the back of it. They went on to decide 15th – 35th while the 40 riders left in the bunch caught me. I finished 42nd so another positive day barring the silly waste of energy. Still learning! I had given myself two weeks to start finishing these races so I am proud to have adapted so quickly.

(Me on the left talking with Ukrainian team mate about politics)

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30-07-2011 Bambrugge

Race four. This was a tough circuit with a climb, some cobbles and a very tight run to the finish line. The race started aggressively with a small group of hitters clipping off the front after only 4 laps – we never saw them again. The race took its toll slowly with the 165 strong bunch whittled down to about 70 riders. With three laps remaining I told myself to be 7th wheel off the cobbles with 2 km to go. It was tight from there so I was certain that not much would change after that crucial point. I was wrong! I consider myself a reasonable bike handler but wow that was the craziest 2km of my life. A corner that we went through earlier in the race in single file was now taken 6 wide! I did not give up and fought hard. I jumped the curb and went between a car parked on the footpath and a building. I came into the last corner in 10th wheel. I finished 12th in the bunch kick which put me 34th for the day. Gutted to just miss out on the prize money but overall happy with the race.

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8 -08-2011Oordegem

A hilly race?! Hill climbers – do not get too excited – in Belgium, hills are bridges that cross a canal or motorway. On the odd occasion however they do have some pretty short steep climbs. But if you are smart, like me, you ride your small ring up them and your legs will be fine.

The circuit had a short 1 km loop linking onto a 6km loop, like a figure eight; with each lap there where two climbs and one of them was cobbles. We had 16 laps to complete. The cobbled section was tricky as it was fast at the bottom and slow at the top. It is very hard to change gears on cobbles, except changing to a harder gear, so by the top you were stuck in a rather large gear. Rain has now become part of the set menu. There were 132 starters.

The pace, as always, was fast from the start. The roads had had fresh rain and I was a bit nervous from my last outing in these kinds of conditions. I had to quickly get over this and concentrate on getting to the front. There was a fast climb to the finish line, which was a good place to move forward. I managed to make the selection for the day that consisted of about 60 riders.

PUNCTURE

Game over: I made a slow ride back to the finish, fixed my wheel and rode home. 180km for the day.

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4 - 08 - 2011 Deerlijk

We had a 50km ride to the race, 120km race and 50km ride home. Extra food was packed in the pocket. Our local helper from Gent warned us to pack rain jackets, I thought he was crazy because it was 28degrees and not a cloud in the sky, I took one just in case.

It was still fine when we lined up to race the 23 laps. There were 140 starters and it was a very tight course. After the usual teething problems in the first 2 laps, sorting the excited riders from the experienced, I settled into the top 30 in the peloton. Then two big drops landed on my sunglasses. Boom! It poured down. The whole field and road was wet. This was my first experience racing in the wet in Belgium.

I motivated myself to get at least into the first 10 in the bunch. Every corner was a standing start and was very slippery. I counted 5 crashes in two laps. It was difficult to stay near the front but my hard work paid off. I turned around after 6 laps and was in the leading group of 14 riders. We had around 2 minutes on the not-so-interested field.

10 very messy laps went past with only 3 riders clipping off the front. The corners got worse and worse. There were a total of about nine corners with 2 hairpins, 3 which were off camber and one which had white paint over the entire apex. Every lap, on at least one corner, you would slide just a little bit. My final slide came on lap 18 on the hairpin. It was completely my fault. I went into it way to hot and my front wheel went. I didn’t land too badly - just a bit of damage to my hip. My bike was fine and I chased back onto the back of the break. This effort was far too violent and the next acceleration from the break I was gone. I was so angry with myself for crashing and getting dropped from the best move I have been in. Once I had gone from the back of the break I realised my bike was a bit more damaged than I had originally thought and this caused me to pull out of the race.

Although it was not the greatest ending I was very happy with my progression.