too much going on to specify it in a title of reasonable length without being way to broad

May 1 - 5th I was in Eastern Europe. First a plane to Krakow, then a drive through Slovakia to Czech Republic. I was so tired from my 4am wake up that the 300km drive that took 6 hours was hell. In all of the above countries you need to buy a transponder so they can track how much you drive so the federalies can take money from foreigners using the roads. I don't know who we bought ours from but on all occasions bartering was somehow effective. I can't picture any situation in Canada where you could attempt bartering with a Customs Officer. Anyways while bartering over the cost of our transponder (they averaged 50euro, 3 team vehicles and 3 countries... do the math!) in Slovakia a guy washed our window in about 4 seconds and laughed with us and kept saying JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAME HAHAHA when we spoke in Dutch (not me though). Then he sticks out his hand and says 10 euro. It's like c'mon dude your window cleaning skills aren't worth 1 euro a second. So again we bartered him down to 2 euro as he forced his way into the car. I was alright not liking this part of Europe, everything was run down and really depressing. We got to the hotel and a kid through dry mud  (I hope it was mud) out of his high rise at me. The hotel itself reminded me of the house in Fight Club. Anyways I didn't complain and just got down to racing. 

Stage 1 of Carpathia Couriers Paths was a 2km prologue around some little roads with a couple corners. Everyone had ITT bikes but we used our road bikes. Only a small disadvantage over such a short distance. I finished 60th 13 seconds behind the winner, but with over 150 starters it's not such a bad result. Stage one it rained super hard all day and the deciding factor was a 4km climb over 20%. After what seemed like hours climbing at 50rpm I went over the top in about 23 wheel. The lead group at the finish was 22. Upon cresting the top I was so cramped I could hardly pedal and let a small gap open as riders infront of me tried to sprint into the wet descent. I couldn't catch up but I soon found company in about 30 other riders. We rolled in 33 seconds and I was now around 30th in GC. Stage 2 saw us with 2 riders in the top 10 and we planned on leading them out to try and get bonus seconds at the finish. Belgian Champ Jorne Carolus who was in my group on Stage 1 crashed at the bottom of the first climb and never made it back, ending his tour. Fast forward a couple hours of boring up and down wet landscape and we have all 5 riders in the lead group of 60 going to finish. The three (myself included) non top 10 riders drove it super hard in the final km's and we had Jef and Tiesj (mr. phonetical says: TEE sh huh) sitting in 3rd and 4th wheel with 200m to go. Then, as luck would have it, the rider in 2nd wheel either had a death wish or dormant narcolepsy but he managed to hit the deck taking about 20 riders with him. Myself included but my injuries hardly crossed the booboo threshold. TJ however broke his wrist and Jef was more ripped than Arnold Schwarzneger was in the 80's and with a broken bike to boot. Thankfully we all have 2 race bikes and that wasn't a problem but we lost our best rider in TJ. Stage 3 was more relaxed (it rained again) and we were busy covering moves and licking our wounds and late in the race Jef was really good to get in an 8 man move. He didn't have the legs in the sprint and was 2nd on the stage. With time bonuses the rider who won got 10 seconds putting him in the leader's jerseyand Jef got 6 making him 2nd on GC, 4 seconds back. The last stage, Stage 4 if you've been keeping track was hard, we tried to get Jef some intermediate sprints and a good chance at the finish but despite all our work we couldn't compete with the two dutch teams that had combined against us. They managed to push Jef back into 4th overall and we thought back to what could have been had Jef just managed to win stage 3. Hindsight is 20/20, we did our best,  insert cliche here. 

We drove home over the course of 2 days and picked up some teammates in Frankfurt making for a crammed final 3 hours back to Herentals. I got home at 2am, slept, went for a coffee ride, packed my bags with my freshly washed clothes and headed back to Herentals. Time for some French racing! 

Only a mere 2 hours from the Lotto service course was our hotel. It was very nice and welcomed change after our trying accommodations in former Soviet Russia. Some of you may know that I have been gluten-free (pause for laughter) for the past 2 years, but, on that evening, in that small French town near the Belgian border, I hit a breaking point. Instead of explaining for the millionth time what Gluten is and all that non-sense I just picked up a roll and engulfed it into my digestive system. Engulfed was the wrong word to use their, I see that now. Anyways I have felt it in my belly since then and combined with my Hay Fever I wasn't feeling too hot but manageable. This time last year I got hit by Hay fever when I was in Germany and my riding abilities were crippled but this year I was prepared with nasal inhalers (checked by Lotto team doctor to make sure they are legal). I was rev'd up for stage 1 of the 2 day race. 160km with some cobbles and wind. I really wanted to see how France compared to Belgium. Early on I was suffering but in the lead group of >30 after 30km of cobbles and wind but then... I got a flat. I had to wait with my hand in the air for an eternity as the 100 riders behind me slowly trickled by until only the slowest of them passed me revealing the trapped line of team cars. I got a new wheel but the race director instructed me to not follow the cars back as potentially 100 riders could jump in and ride back to the front. This was a perfect example of the importance of neutral service. My day, and stage race, ended in that moment. I was a little bummed as day 2 was a ITT and I haven't raced my nice new ITT bike yet this year. I did have tonnes of fun following my teammate Dries though as we just blasted music and I lent out the window and screamed profanities at him and called him names to try and motivate him. Then Flashdance came on, it was magical. After Dries told me Flashdance was a boring song to do an ITT to. Disappointing.

  

WHAT A FEELING! 

Saturday was off as Sunday and Monday's races where not connected to the Thursday and Friday races. We rode with a few other teams to preview Sunday's circuit and I got to ask some burning questions. I polled a bunch of French riders about what they thought about the French vs. Belgian racing. Although I was OTL on Thursday I really did enjoy the racing and the level. It is the Highest level in France but it was only slightly higher than the kermis level in Belgium. This rider though told me that in France it is a bigger show, races have podiums and VIP's and all that stuff but he seemed to think Belgian racers are tougher, stronger and most importantly smarter. He claimed the reason for all three was that in Belgium you always end up doing some races with pros and you do races where you get blown out of the water. This teaches you a lot, and really toughens you up when you are riding in the heat of the race near the front and in the action. You can suffer harder in this situation because you have suffered this hard before just to make the time limit, now you are doing it to win. It also makes you smarter because you are better at conserving energy when you are really outclassed where in France it is either Amateur or Pro, there is no overlap. Maybe this guy didn't like France or something but his reasons seemed valid enough. I extremely enjoy the racing there so it's hard to say anything bad about it. He also told me his girlfriend did a semester of school in Canada and that she really loved Canada and wants to move there, I asked where in Canada, and he said "Manitoba"! His girlfriend must be crazy (JustKidding Manitoba). 

Sunday was a windy circuit race and I took the skills I have obtained from dutch cross winds and kept shelter in the long grass. I missed the initial split but jumped across with 6 others. When we got there 4 had escaped for good and I managed to sprint in for 19th place. I was a little boxed in during the sprint but content with my performance, in the first few laps I felt like complete trash. I don't know if it was the pollen or the gluten (it was definitely the gluten) but I went to the back of my group, blew chunks, and then started feeling better. 

After the race the fact that I had raced 8 of the last 14 days was really starting to hit me and I felt really pooped. So I wasn't feeling so confident with my low energy going in a crit the next day. I tried to compensate with a few coffee's but it didn't work. I was active but definitely not myself and I got dropped by 2 other riders who I had escaped with and they ended up being the winning move (along with 20 others they gradually bridged up). Of 5 starters 3 guys got blown up really early and only the 2 of us remaining couldn't do a lot. I followed everything I could to try and make it hard for the guys at the back but we never made it to the front. I sprinted in for 8th in my group of 40, which ain't half bad for a yokel like me.         

Back in Belgium relaxing, taking it easy. Just a couple races this weekend and then next week a real rest period before starting a build to aim for mid June. Sunday I am back to flat windy Holland to hold on for dear life and Monday is a criterium in the land of Perfume..... Cologne, Germany. I got some sweet new race wheels and I am planning a trip with my buddy Quinten to go to Malmedy, Wallonie in early June for a week to ride the hills, stay in a nice apartment above a bar and drive around in his Benz! Life is so hard haha! 

  

Planes, Trains and.... a Canal?

Last Saturday it was back to Holland for a 4th time this year at yet another 200km, dead flat, hurricane wind, UCI Europe tour bought of suffering. I am really beginning to understand how racing amongst these wooden shoed northerners is a whole different type of cycling. I want to make this brief. Such as was my race. As always the story begins with 200 people fighting through the pack in the neutral zone like it's Wal-Mart on the eve of Dec 21st, 2012. The only difference between racing in Holland and the Mayan Apocalypse is that in Dutch races the Doomsday Prepers end up being right. I managed to make it to the top 40 which I figured was pretty decent. Once the green flag dropped I was comfy in the pack and I started thinking maybe this one would be different. Soon enough a front grouped formed of 17 and I was too far back, not long after the hammer really dropped and I was far enough up to be sheltered. Then riders slowly sprinted up through the wind and I eventually found myself too far back to be sheltered and I was forced into the gutter. Suffering, endless suffering.

As the story goes the wind and gutter demanded me to expel my 1 minute pace for 5 minutes, an impossible task and I was exiled to the next group. Having completely wasted myself trying to stay in the top 50 the next 30 traveling at the same speed just 30 seconds back did not give me sufficient time to recover and I ended up in more or less the same position. I was soon in the laughing group of about 80 or so and we completed the first circuit of 70km and headed to the showers. Holland toughens you up thats for sure. Watching the final kilometres on TV I noticed in the lead group there was 3 belgians and like 25 dutch. Most of whom where quite older than me, notably Niko Eckhout a 40 something Belgian guy who makes nails look like marshmallows. One thing I saw that gave me a little hope, or at least soften the blow of getting pwnd was a rider who was dropped before I was. According to Wiki (an always credible source) Glenn O'Shea is current omnium world champ and has a few Olympic medals to his name.

               
Who knows though maybe he came the 70,000,000 miles from the land Down Under for >20km of motor pacing. After the waiting for the race to finish our director Kurt told us he wasn't please with our results and expected better of us. More than understandable. He then pulled me aside and said it is hard being a first year in such races and because of this I will no longer be racing Azerbaijan. In Hockey terms I had become, a healthy scratch, cut, or even benched.

I spent the rest of the day thinking about my life in Europe. I decided that I was alright with this and I can get plenty of good racing in kermis courses. My current shaky morale probably would have collapsed had I gone to Azerbaijan and got crushed on day 1 and forced to abandon. It was a good decision to exclude me. When the selections came out and I was the only rider not selected for any team race that was a little hard to bare but I had been preparing all winter mentally for things like this. I keep reminding myself that I am doing everything as well as I can. I go to the races focused and ready to suffer, do my training 100%, rest when it's time to rest, get my 8 hours, 2 meat and 3 veg etc etc. This past Friday I got the call that I will be doing Carpathia Couriers Paths in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is a UCI 2.2 U23 with a 2km ITT and 4 relatively hilly road stages of about 130km. This is definitely more suitable to me. So far with the team I have only been in Holland although I was picked by Lotto due to results at hillier races, this will be my opportunity to really represent what I have as a rider. Flying in a PLANE to Krakow on Tuesday! Man, I'm pumped for this chance.        

Putting the disappointments of Pays-Bas behind me was something I looked forward to as I would race a kermis the next day. Neil was a flat race with 200 starters and limited opportunities to get away I was in a bunch of breaks, most notably with a few kilometres to go one rider and I had 10 seconds but we were both cracked and the peleton weren't chasing just all sitting there hesitant. When they reacted they brought us back in a matter of seconds. I got as far forward as I could with momentum as the peleton bunched up and I blasted a shaky line through a corner and a guy in front of me almost crashed. It probably wasn't worth it as all it did was allow me to coast across the line for 50th or so, outside of the money anyways. One funny thing happened mid-race was a TRAIN crossed the course and we all had to stop for minute or so to wait for it to pass, a surreal Belgian  racing experience.

This saturday I raced at another flat rough kermis and with tonnes of racers, corners, gravel pits and road furniture. I don't know who eats a half a gel after 500m of racing but a guy a few wheels in front of me did and when I ran over is it flew up and got on my top tube, legs and handlebars. The worst part was that it was an iso gel (I recognized the packaging), these are a little more viscous and you can eat them without water. When it comes to the stickiness of said gels the added water within the gel harbours the same effects as if you were dumping water to a grease fire.

A swell way to kick of a race. I decided to relax for a little while as on the quick course no one would get away while 200 fresh riders wanted to attack. Soon though I had another surreal Belgian racing experience as racing was suspended because a boat had go under the canal. I joked about jumping in Fast and Furious style, maybe next time.

After about 45 minutes I got  to the front and started getting involved. I followed a move and we were going balls out then a broken strung out peleton clawed back up to us. No one wanted to keep it going so I shake n' baked a super tall Irish dude and went for it. I was expecting help but not a soul followed me. After maybe 30 seconds solo 6 guys came up to me and we started to build up a nice lead. At one of the criss crossy sections I saw a group of 4 was about 30 seconds back and I had two teammates amongst them so I just relaxed and waited for them. When then came up no one wanted to work and another group came up and we were 30 or so up front. My teammate Kenneth went for it and 2 other riders went with him. Constantly marking attacks and bridge efforts was starting to tire me out. Two guy went and I was unable to follow. Then the big Irish guy went for it and got in his draft and worked with him and we soon caught the 2 up ahead. So as it stands there are three up the road with a teammate and 4 chasers (including ben) and a group of 25 or so trailing behind. I helped keep the rythm but didn't work too hard as I knew I would feel bad if I worked hard to get to the leaders and then Kenneth lost the sprint. Simple math says 1 vs 2 is better than 2 vs 5. We got within 5 seconds in the last kilometre and I didn't close the gap. The big fella went and I didn't have the legs. Then the frenchman in our quartet went and I followed and came around him before the line but the other guy passed me at about the same time. Kenneth won the race and we embraced after the line (no homo) and he thanked me for being a good teammate but no one was happier about the win than his mom. 6th out of 200 is a result I can be happy with, it shows my form is good heading into Poland.                

In non cycling news I have been watching some Duck Dynasty and subsequently stopped shaving.

My Super Sweet 16

Another weekend of kermis courses in lovely Belgium. Friday I rode to the start and of course it rained for most of the 25km there. Once at the race I found a teammate, sat and chatted with him in the cafe, paid my 10 euro entry fee, and pinned my numbers on to a sweaty jersey. I sat and waited for him to get changed then we rolled around and got ready for the start. Early on us few Lotto boys were going for all the moves and before long all 4 of us at the race managed to get in a group of 22. We had the numbers but 4 on 22 is still pretty rough odd ands it is hard to dominate that size of a group. With 4 laps to go we amassed as a team at the front and drove it in the gutter on one of the more wind effected sections to try and increase our power swing in the escape. We managed to break four riders off, still nowhere near enough to get a firm control of the group. So we began to Cat and Mouse, taking turns attacking with Dries, Wouter and I while our strong sprinter Alex sat in just incase none of us escaped before the end. Next lap at the cross wind section Dries brought "riding in the gutter" to a more literal stance when a rider from Norwegian team that was there racing forced him into the muddy trench. Luckily he was fine but he would no longer be helping our attacking assault.

cross wind section

Wouter went and he stayed away with one other rider. I was covering moves and stuck on all except the one successful bridge by a rider from the Dutch national team who just shot out of the peleton so fast we were all looking at each other and no one could do anything about it. The three stayed away and Wouter was third in the 3 up sprint as the Dutchman managed to put 5 bike lengths on them in the sprint, which he supposedly started 400m out.    

Two attacks went in the last km or so, so I told Alex to get on my wheel and I rode as hard as I could. I caught one guy just as we rounded the final bend and got within a few bike lengths of the next guy but then Alex came around and managed to take the sprint for 4th. I rolled in, smashed, for 16th place.  

Here is a video of the race, notice me pop off on the right hand side with some late attackers @29:15  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAMZvBn9c9o&feature=player_embedded

Sunday was a 3.5km loop with tonnes of cross wind sections, 2 meter wide roads and a ridiculous 8 corners. 33 laps of this would be leg busting. I managed to fight my way to the front line early on and started covering moves. By mid race 115 of the 145 starters where on the roadside watching, having been blown out of the water. Sadly I missed the final split when 12 riders rode away leaving me in a group of 18. I did have 3 teammates in the lead group however. Riding around we kept the leaders at about 30 seconds and after a while my group soon started to fade. I hadn't been doing my fair share with so many mates up the road, although fresh I did miss a move of 3 riders that attacked and got a gap on my group. I wasn't going to let myself miss the next one. I followed a crazy TT specialist guy when he went with .5 km to go and then I came around him in the sprint for 16th, hence the title of this blog post. The lotto guys up the road went 1,3,6 with Frederick Frisson taking the W.

Altogether a good weekend of racing, I was up there I just wasn't in the 1 or 2 % of the race that made the last split. Soon enough I will be there and I can play out my tactics for 1st, not 16th.

This Saturday I am going to be racing in Holland for the 4th time this year, another UCI 1.2 with pro's. It will be a breeze. Sunday I will try to hit up the hills of Wallonie at a kermis, fingers crossed I will win this one!