Making it

This morning started as many pre-race morning do with the teams usual 9am meeting downstairs in the bar area with some conversations, good luck wishes and plenty of coffees. As the light rain was falling outside we all wished each other a safe race and saw our UCI racers off to battle while us racers who were going to the kermesse stayed for a few more coffees. 

After the majority of the team disbanded my teammate Nick Freisen and I sat back for one last coffee and got into the finer points of being an elite rider here in Belgium and in the states. As we talked about our opportunities on both sides of the ocean, sacrifices, and race styles in general, I discovered the one aspect that truly appeals to me about the life of a cyclist in Europe compared to that of a racer in the states. Respect. The level of respect for the cyclists and the racing here is beyond anything that could be conjured in the U.S. The races here are held not solely for the goal of making money and pleasing sponsors, but to allow racers to race, and give hope to rising stars. The respect and admiration of the fans and families here is a catalyst for the riders. It urges them to suffer beyond what we would consider possible, to become the next great, even if it is just for the day. This respect is reflected financially and socially in the compensation that the riders receive in winnings and government stipends as well as the support before, during, and after races by family, friends and strangers alike.  

 Nick and I discussed extending our stays here in Oostkamp and how we would be able to "make it" here as compared to the domestic scene and both essentially concluded that staying would be a necessity if we wish to secure any kind of contract in the U.S. or here in Europe. Our conclusion was reached based not entirely on the respect that I spoke of, but on the opportunities that exist and do not exist stateside that stem from the lack of "respect" for the sport, so to speak. If the proper support elements for a race and racers are not present and in turn make racing uneconomical and socially unsupported, then the racers will fundamentally lack the incentives and motivations to compete on the higher levels as they do here in Europe. However, with the respect and experience that is earned and gained here in Europe it becomes possible to assert some level of respect in the states and thus earns a degree of success and/or opportunity that would have otherwise been either impossible or very difficult, especially for middle aged (I use this term loosely) riders like myself. 

I know that this is not some grand epiphany that has never been realized by riders before, but it was something that I felt to be of importance and relevance for any aspiring cyclists life. I have come to respect this sport more than most and have regarded the sacrifices that it takes to make it here for so little money as the biggest of any sport. This truly is a sport that has no room for errors or weakness. So with this in mind, I'm off to race..... thanks for reading and I'll let you know when I decide to come home ;)    

Paris-Roubaix from the 150M mark

Here's a video of I think Haussler finishing

The day that will live in infamy....

 I was really hyped going into UCI race this weekend. Lots of short power climbs with cobbles, fun terrain, and a really prestigious list of past winners. I was feeling good and had a good idea of where I needed to be at almost all times, thanks to a well planned recon ride earlier in the week that took us over all the climbs and through most of the tricky sections. We arrived at the race on time with everyone in good spirits and the weather cooperating nicely. As we began to change into kits, apply oils, balms and chamois cremes, pin numbers, I came to a rather horrifying realization....... I have no shoes. Little did I know that this was merely the beginning. 

After relaying my discovery to the Directors and the team we began looking to piece together a set of spare shoes and cleats that would work. Luckily I had one teammate with the right cleats and another with the right size shoe so there was a last moment shoe assembly and then it was off to the start line. Now although I was discouraged at this point, I had not given up and was still feeling up to the task at hand even if it meant destroying my knees via different cleats and shoes. So off we went.

The first few kilometers were flying along just fine and I was sitting comfortably about 15-20th wheel when around 5-7k out of nowhere I hit something....... hard. I'm still not exactly sure what it was but my best guess is either large pot hole or drainage grate. Regardless, the impact sent one of my water bottles exploding off into the group, rotated my handlebars so far down to the point that I couldn't safely reach the hoods, and pinch flatted my rear tire..... F$%*!!!!!!!!!

After instantly loosing my position and rolling back to the caravan with right hand held high, I found the car and instantly exclaimed "I think I need a bike." After a fairly speedy change I was returned to the caravan but instantly noticed that the shifting was not even close to decent. After moving up one or two cars and then falling back a few times I was starting to feel all of my efforts in my knees and in these alien shoes. Then I saw the team car on the side giving a wheel to one of our riders..... "ok, here I can help" I thought. Even if I'm shattered I can still help a teammate get back in the race and contribute some to this race. After passing the car and Peter (the other rider) I slowed a bit and shifted to the small ring for a small hill. As i saw Peter approaching I went to start climbing the gears and pick speed back up to make my effort for him. However, once I tried to shift into the big ring the response was not the expected one. Instead of finding a bigger gear, all I found was a handful of brakes. Once, twice, three times......fuck! seriously!?! four, five...... Peter shoots by on the back of a team car giving me a confused look at 65k/hr, I'm still going backwards. Six, Seven. Then finally around the eighth try I got the gears I had need about 45 seconds ago, but by this point I was well towards the back of the cars and would remain there until roughly 50k into the race when I was pulled. I later found the the cause of the braking in place of the shift to the big ring was being caused by an extremely tight brake that would catch every time I tried to shift.    

After my return to the team bus I was more frustrated and disappointed with my self than I have been in a very long time. All errors were on my behalf and I was awarded the remainder of the day to reflect on them in solitude with aching knees. Yup, I have now had my worst race day ever. So it can only get better from here.... right?

Although I myself had the day from hell, our team did very respectable with four finishers out of six and three of those finishing in the front of the peleton, one of which was top 25 out of roughly 200. My only regret is that my mistakes prevented my from being able to contribute to their finishes, or mine. 

tomorrow is another day.....  

Back to posting....

Sorry about the long gap between postings but I was experience some sign in troubles with the blog and couldn't access anything for a while. After a little research and some intensive trouble shooting though the problem has been solved.... (I'm an idiot and was using a wrong email).

So onwards and upwards with life in the Belgie!!

Health Update:

A few weeks back I was on a training ride and decided to overcook a turn and ended up taking a spill and a pretty good thump to the chest. Well after a week or do of pretty intense pain a visit to the good doctor confirmed that I did have a either cracked or fractured rib. So for the past few weeks I have been training and racing and sprinting with the efforts of a 90 year asthmatic woman. However, now that I am on the later end of the healing cycle I have slowly regained some breathing power and strength. But seriously, broken ribs are not fun. 

Racing:

While in my broken state I managed to still get in some Kermesse racing although the racing that I did do was short lived at best. Since my last entry I have competed in another three Kermesse races and finished approximately 0 of them (my group was pulled in one). The intensity of these races is truly something that has to be seen or experienced. One teammate that finished the same race in which my group was pulled had an average power for the race of about 300 Watts..... for about 120k..... that's alot.  

After racing these I have started to become much more active in the front of the race rather than just trying to sit in the pack and survive lap after lap. Within the first 4-5 laps of the race there is usually a break that forms and stays away, the key is to get into this breakaway group. Easy right? Well, it usually takes about 3-4 laps of non-stop attacking and chasing before this break forms so not really. In the last two of these races I have made it a point to be overly active in the first few laps to get a feel of what it's like to be in the early breaks and what it's like to be brought back..... they both hurt... alot. With each attack being chased at full speed if you do not have the enegry to cover the next attack that comes when you are brought back the you will most likely either get completely dropped, or loose position in the front of the group and miss the break that stays. 

Now that I'm starting to slowly understanding the movement and positioning of these races I'm hoping to begin to finish them more regularly and with better intentions of placing. 

The Weekend:

For this weekend, I will be competing in my second UCI race that is being held here in Belgium called Zellik-Galmaarden. This race is one of the hillier one day races going over the Kappel-Muir 2 times, the Bosberg 6 times and about eight other smaller climbs which I don't have names for. All of which are cobbled climbs accept for one. So needless to say that this should be a fun one and I look forward to giving a good race report on Monday.

Apologies again for the delay in posting but now everything should be back on track from here out. Coming up also this week I'll post a few shots of the Finish of Paris-Roubaix from the 150M mark inside the Velodrome at Roubaix and give the account of our adventures that day...... prostitutes, car chases, and drug dealers oh-my..... you really must visit Roubaix.

Cheers!

The Kermis

In Belgium, Kermis racing is something of a national pastime as well as a towns social event. Kermeses usually consist of a 5-10k loop done up to 130k through a hosting town, the race is fast, aggressive, big, and has lots of turns. Spectators bet on riders and riders in breakaways sell races to other riders, the rules in these races are, for the most part, that there are none. So with that brief description here is the synopsis of my first.

After riding roughly 20k from our home base in Oostkamp to the town of Ichetegem (Eck-tA- HAM) and wandering about the town for about 15min my teammate and I finally found the inscription tent (registration). The funny thing about the "inscription" tent is that it is positioned in the back of one of the local pubs, which is normal. This allows the drinking spectators to observe all the registering riders and later set bets on who they believe will take the win. After taking a picture with a slightly creepy but friendly Dutch lady, my teammate and I headed to the start line in our overly flamboyant American flag kits. 

Now as mentioned earlier, there are very little rules in these races. This includes the start. My teammate and I were clued into the fact that in these races with well over 100 riders, being at the front is a must, and the best way to get there..... cheat! Kind of. In warm up we strategically rode out in front of the start, on course, and with a few minutes until start we casually rode up to the line and slid ourselves in nice and neat. Perfect. Cake. Hard part is done. And with a casual "Ja, ok..." by the official, we were off. 

Well, the hard part was done until we started to hit the turns. Belgians do NOT like to turn fast or aggressive. Brake really hard into the turn.... way into the turn...... ok a little further into the turn.... almost to a track stand..... still in your 53- whatever...... now sprint. Thats a Belgian turn. The first corner we hit was a very nasty 270 degree hairpin over a brief patch of cobbles that put alot of people in the gutter for the first few laps. Ok, the Belgian turn was justified there. Turn two, also a hairpin, but you could have taken this one with a little more heat. But turns 4,5,and 6 were all 90's or less that could easily be swept. But almost every time...... skkkkrreeeeeett..... to sprint. The first three 7k laps with this turning mentality was one of the sketchiest things I have ever experienced on a bike. Everyone is strong. Everyone wants the front. And everyone can't turn worth a damn. This is gonna be fun. 

In the hour 15min that I completed in this first race, I felt that the pace never slowed below a full attack nor did it ever really go low enough to legitimately rest. I could try and elaborate on the speed and intensity with speed and power measurements but I'll just leave it at this. It's unrelentingly fast and really chaotic. 

On the bright side though, the similarity of these races to US criterium races is very high and the only main difference seems to be the length. With this experience and this knowledge I feel that I could very easily compete in this style of racing but it will just take time to get used to the difference in style and the length with the intensity. Another learning experience to chalk up and another race to build on......

I'd go on a bit more, but the race has got the best of me along with the kilometers there and back, so until the next race or entertaining event....... later!

     

 

 

Paris-Troyes UCI catageory 1.2

Our day began with a 6:30 departure time from the team house in Oostkamp, Belgium and a 3.5 hour drive to a small town outside of Paris where the race was to start. Upon arrival to the race start and parking lot the calm and collected felling I had in the car steadily started to give way to every WRONG emotion one should have before a race.... anxiousness, nervousness, fear, ect. and this was all later confirmed with some of my Australian teammates. Not to help matters, we were also racing with Jimmy Casper who is a Tour de France stage winner and has multiple other large titles pinned on his resume'.  After a short race prep, our team of six lined up on the left side of the start and waited for the neutral start which our director and others assured us would be extremely aggressive and hectic in efforts to jockey for position.... it was. Riders (including myself) were flying up onto sidewalks, through alleys, and around cars, all while on tiny cobbled town streets. Upon leaving the town the neutral start was stopped at a seemingly random spot on the road and then started again from a dead stop. This dead stop was just as aggressive as a large crit in terms of finding position and after about 5min we started. 

Over the first hour the average speed was 46km/hr and at points the group was ripping at over 60k/hr. This was a very very fast start and for the most part the tempo never really slowed. The end speed was around 43k/hr for a 178k  race (about 104 mi) with some sustained climbs and continuous rolling hills. Basically a 4hr crit. 

My start wasn't exactly in the best position but not really the worst either, but in these races if you are not in the first group of about 40 in the front, your efforts are amplified ten-fold, and this was no exception. Having problems with my rear brake sticking and locking up on turns caused me to rapidly loose placing and soon I was more towards the back than when I had started. Towards the 40k mark I made my first real UCI race mistake. I left the safety of the group for the following caravan for mechanical help. The only reason this was a poor move was because before moving back I failed to notify out team car over the radio, and as a result had to drift all the way to the back of the caravan. Upon finding that there was nothing that could really be done for my brakes, I began to make my way back towards the front of the cars. After getting within roughly two cars of the group again I was told over the radio that one of more experienced riders was coming up behind me and I should wait for him and we should then help each other return to the group. Sounded like a good idea right? Teamwork! Well teamwork doesn't work so well when the caravan begins to accelerate and teammate flies by you at 70k/hr. Not long after this acceleration i was well off of the pace with very little explosive strength left to try and pace back on to any of the cars and was soon off the back. This experience in the caravan taught me alot. Mostly, that whenever you have the chance to actually get back in the group from the cars... take it. Moving in and out of these cars was one of the hardest and scariest experiences I've had on a bike and not knowing what you're doing makes that experience even worse. But the caravan can be used to get advantage and hopefully by the next race I'll have a much better grasp on that concept. 

After my departure from the group, I was joined by an Estonian rider and French rider who had also suffered the same fate as myself. We paced each other up to roughly 70-75k and then were told by the notorious broom wagon to jump in.... we were 15 min behind the lead group. After only about 3-5 min in the van I was a little more relieved to see my three Aussie teammates with a group of about 8 or 9 were off as well. The end of the race didn't include anyone from our team, but we all took away enough experience to fit into an entire season out of this one race.... and we get to do it again this weekend :)