Wrap up

Home now and as always there is no place like it, especially on a brilliant sunny morning with our views.

Flight home was uneventful and shock horror my bike, in its new travel case, actually arrived in the baggage claim area before my bag which in itself arrived in the first ten bags on the carousel. After the trauma of the trip out that was quite something, I'm usually resigned for oversize baggage, my bike or my golf clubs, coming through after any other baggage.

Upon reflection this may have been my best racing trip ever. The weather was generally superb, I met up with some old friends, made some new friends and was more than happy with my race results. Certainly if you'd asked me before I went what sort of results I would have been happy with I would have said I would be happy with less than I achieved. The championship was a bit disappointing but that's my own fault and the best I could realistically have achieved was a top ten anyway. The key thing for me was that I could compete in the races rather than just hang in, I believe I achieved that in spades in the second half I just got stronger and stronger, I definitely needed a few races to bring me on.

As always my hotel was brilliant, I couldn't recommend it more highly. If anybody wants accommodation in Belgium as a base for racing or holiday, then www.bovendael.com is definitely the place. Jurgen and Inga will look after you, they have always been super helpful to me, the accommodation is great, Wim the chef can cater for any dietary needs, even bike riders. I should mention that the hotel hosts many pro teams from Sky and BMC, down to some of the smaller Italian teams, so they are well used to bike riders. The location is great, easy to find, close to motorways but located in a quiet village surroundings. Importantly it is very convenient for all WAOD and VWF races being pretty much central, no races are more than 45 minutes away.

Bit of an anti climax

My head wasn't really into to racing today, the experience of making this trip since 2008 tells me that I can't do myself justice in a race back to back. I know that I can be good every three days so two or three races a week nicely spaced I can do well.

I raced hard for a result yesterday, maybe I was a bit too profligate with my energy but I was enjoying the race so maybe I did too much. I signed on, did three laps warm up including one lap hard to see if my legs would respond and the answer was not really. The course was country lanes and some stretches were a bit 'sketchy' and I was thinking that at best today I would be hanging on, maybe a top ten if I used my head but should I? I was thinking that my last race should be one that I have good memories of, being the aggressor and getting a good result at the finish rather than one where I was just trying to survive. When it started to rain I was convinced, especially when I thought of how uncomfortable it was last time doing a 24 hour flight with a chewed up hip, so I put my bike back in the car and came back to the hotel.

I've managed to wrestle my bike and bits into the new hard shell case I had to buy, its a bit smaller than the old one but by jumping on it I managed to get it closed. It has much tougher fastenings I think and won't give way like the old one, I hope, mind you the old one has made the trip since 2008, plus some side trips so it doesn't owe me anything.

With the hard bit over I went to have a drink with Wim the chef, who wants to take me with him to the TDF next year, Walter the waiter, and the lovely Donna. I had to say goodbye to them today since I'll be gone before they turn into work tomorrow.

I have checked in to my flight and got my boarding cards for the flight home, still to pack my clothes but that shouldn't take long tomorrow morning. I'll leave for the airport around 12.30 tomorrow and be back in Melbourne Tuesday evening, can't wait now.

I've had a fantastic trip and I'm really pleased with my results, in the 'money' in every race, except where I punctured or had a mechanical and much much closer to a win than I would have thought possible before I came, so definitely happy.

Bugger, bugger, bugger

Friday was a recovery day, just did an hour on the bike which was just as well, because although I started in the dry I finished in the rain and it kept raining for a couple of hours after that. Having finished with the ride I cleaned my bike and changed the rear tyre in the hope of avoiding any more punctures! After completing my mechanic duties I cleaned myself up and headed off for dinner with Steve Snowling at his house in Moorsele, which is a suburb of Wevelgem. I didn't find it the last time so I had aranged to rendezvous with Steve at a point I did manage to find, I'm not surprised that I couldn't find it as a new estate its design is a tad obscure at least in the layout.

Anyway having found the house we had a good catch up talking over old times, probably through the proverbial rose tinted glasses, then we spent a lot of time catching up the intervening years since we last met. Those with keen eyesight will notice that Steve has put on a little weight, happily married I guess, and I should point out that the glass contains wine! Steve's theory being that it saved him continually going for refills! So it was later night that I had intended but losing a few hours of sleep was worth it.

Saturday was my penultimate race, I raced with the WAOD at Westkerke which is very near Oostende on the North Sea coast. The weather looked a little unpromising early on but turned out to be a brilliant day, 24c sunny with a bit of wind. The course was a fast one despite the wind, the home straight was just over a kilometer long, wide and really good hot mix, a luxury for somebody that does all his riding on 'dead' country roads. The corners were all fast even if two of them were a little 'interesting', the first corner at the end of the fast home straight was a left hander that had some traffic islands which effectively gave three lines, the fastest by far was to cut through the middle of the islands from right to left. This was an ideal point to attack and I enjoyed lining everybody out with some speed through the finish then kicking hard through that corned and picking it up into the wind along the next straight. The other 'interesting' corner was at the back of the course and was a left hander off of a wide road into a narrow 3 metre lane, then straight into a right hander, the real tricky part of the corner complex was that the first corner went over a speed bump. So that when the pace was really on, we were making the the first part of the turn in the air if we hit the speed bump hard and then the wheels were landing onto an off camber surface. I had a couple of 'moments' myself but the best one was a chap along side me that lost it big time but managed to keep himself upright somehow by leaning across my thigh, fortunately I was stable myself at that point otherwise it could have been nasty. Needless to say he thanked me effusively.

What can I say about the race, I started with a plan that said that I would follow wheels for the first half of the race then see if I could get away and if not the dead straight last kilometer on a fast road was tailor made for me if nothing else worked. That didn't last long by the time we hit the line the first time I was towing a break of 5 at high speed and basically the race went like that for its whole length. I was in every break, instigating many or jumping across to each break, in short I was going like 10 men and even if I do say it myself I felt I was the strongest rider in the race today.

The WAOD has a funny way of dealing with lap boards, which is they don't show the until the last few laps so you need to keep count yourself if you really need to know where in the race you are, personnaly I just set the interval timer on my computer and keep a rough track off time elapsed, most of our races are the same length so I more or less know what's left. Today I didn't bother, I was having a lot of fun!

Anyway we came around and got 4 laps to go, fine plenty of time to get a move in, probably 20km to go, or so I thought. During that lap a rider sort of waddled of the front, it wasn't a real attack, he got about 200m and stuck there, I thought we were just letting him fry himself for a little while, I certainly was anyway. We came round to the finish and blow me they gave us 1 lap to go!! To say there was confusion was an understatement, everybody loking around trying to understand whether it was the last lap or not. Having decided that it was the last lap there was attack after attack but the leader had 4 team mates who were chasing everything and sitting on, when we attacked hard we nearly gobbled him up but then when nobody would come through we swung about and he would go back out to his 200 metre lead. Frustrating to say the least, I kept trying but there didn't seem a lot of point in towing most of the others to the finish straight.

We came up to the last corner with 1200 metres to, our man still had his lead, I attacked hard into the corner and kept going, the pursuing bunch on the right, me in the left hand gutter. My average power for the last 90 seconds was 500 watts, my average speed 55kph, an interval I do regularly, after trying to chase me the bunch cracked and I put 250 metres into them down the home straight, unfortunately although he was rocking and rolling all over his bike, our man managed to hang on by 10 metres, Bugger, bugger, bugger.

That could have been so different if they hadn't screwed up the lap boards, although according to my computer we raced the distance,

Last race tomorrow, again with the WAOD at Gavere, about 20 minutes away. Normally I wouldn't race back to back days, I'm not usually good on the second day but its my last full day here so I might as well give it a go, then its bike packing time.

Training day

After only doing 3km yesterday and I'm still ticked off about that! I thought I ought to train today as opposed to just riding.

The weather was much better today, a few threatening clouds around but mostly sunny, about 24c I think. Three hours in the saddle, mostly Tempo and Sweetspot with plenty of short intervals thrown, even added a sprint and the numbers for that were a little down on potential but not so far I'm going to worry about it.

In the afternoon I went to get a new rear tyre, with only two races left I decided it wasn't worth taking a risk after yesterday. Prices at Van Eycks at the moment in the massive sale are amazing $25 for top of the range Vittoria, can't beat that even on the internet, wish I had room for a dozen in my bags. I also managed to fulfil a jersey request, so my mate Mark now has a long sleeved jersey to add to the short sleeved jersey I managed to find yesterday.

That was it for the day, tomorrow a recovery ride and dinner with Steve Snowling and family.

Very unhappy camper

The day started OK, overcaste but no rain, from there it was all downhill.

After breakfast it started raining, then rained and rained. My race was with the VWF at Malderen, should have been about 45 minutes away but with the rain taking the easy route via the freeway was a mistake, the spray was fierce, there are so many more trucks on the road in Europe, then of course we got the obligatory snarl up changing routes, 45 minutes took 70 minutes, apart from being a pain it was no real problem I'm always early.

I found the race HQ (or bar) OK, found a parking spot, it was a bit rural so my chosen spot overlooked a paddock with half a dozen Shetland ponies running their equivalent of the Derby, they were frisky little dudes. Went and signed on, I already had my number, so 4 Euros and a quick signature and I'm good to go. Back to the car, get in out of the rain, take my time getting ready, oil the legs, oil the arms, wait in the car for a bit longer, no point in being out in the rain too long. Experience tells me that on days like today warm ups are a bit optional and the first few k's are taken at a slightly easier pace so I rode off down the road and just did a couple of K's, well I did 3k actually. Rolled up to the line flat tyre!

So a great day, wet through, 3km's in the legs, entry fee paid, what can I say I'm very unhappy at the moment. Travelled 12,000 miles to race and no race, hence unhappy camper!!!!!!


On the way home I stopped for some retail therapy! bought a nice present for my lovely wife but I actually went into the shop for a jersey for a friend.

Another rest day

Home straight at ICF World championships



Pretty slow day today, weather forecast threatened some rain but it never materialised which was good, so a pleasant 25c, light winds. Did 2 hours this morning on the bike, a bit harder than yesterday mostly easy endurance with some tempo and threshold thrown in, plus a few short sharp intervals to get me going. I felt a lot stronger than yesterday, but to be honest that wouldn't have been difficult I was empty yesterday, but still don't think the top end is back where it should be but its another 24 hours before I race again so hopefully all will be well then.

Apparently the annual Kermis (fair) party in the square went until 3am, there are some sore heads about today I think, the music and PA system were making a hell of a racket when I went to bed, I read for a bit and when I turned the light out I remember thinking that's loud, the next thing I remember is 7am, so loud it may have been but I was obviously tired.

This afternoon it was the turn of the juniores to race on the Erondegem circuit that passes the hotel, I was going to say that they were even more aggresive than the elites yesterday but I don't think that's possible, let just say that they rode a very quick race. Or maybe they were showing off for the parents and assorted relatives that chose our hill to view on because if they then run through the church yard they can see the race again over there. Just like Yesterday the hill was the place to hand up bottles and stand with spare bikes and spare wheels. I'm sure the juniores are as accomplished as the elites at taking bottles but when mum's or dad's where handing up it wasn't always succesful! Some of the spare bikes where set in very low gears because Dad had been riding it around and I particularly liked the mum that had her spare wheelset carefully clutched but still in the wheel bag! I can only imagine what junior would have said as he stood waiting for his mum to get his wheels out. However nobody I saw needed wheels so it wasn't a problem.

So that was pretty much it for today, racing tomorrow at Malderen with the VWF, on Saturday at Westkerke which is over near the coast with the WAOD, I haven't decided my last race on Sunday yet I can go with either the VWF or the WAOD, decisions, decisions.

It's kind of sad that the trip is coming to a close with only a few races left, so I need to say goodbye to a few people as the week winds down.

Down day and a mix of items

Last corner from Friday / The big womens race / Front of start 'pen' at the ICF worlds (me on the right second row)



Today I thought to and was advised by most to take an easy day and drink a few beers so thats exactly what I did!

90 minutes just turning the legs over, another warm day 29c I think with a very light breeze it was just a brilliant day to be on the bike just cruising I really enjoyed it. My legs weren't sore, more just empty, I don't believe I could have raced even if I wanted too!

First having seen the placings from my race yesterday I'm ruing my decision to race on Friday even more. I already knew that I wasn't recovered properly particularly at the top end but having seen the top ten, I should have been there, I can't say I would have one or even medalled but there were guys there that I can beat, do beat. Oh well what could've been, its not going to keep me awake at night I know I did the best I could on the day.

The Euskatel team bus and lorry are here at the hotel at the moment, in between the Tour of Poland and the ENECO and some other races, one of the drivers speaks good English so I got the update but when I asked him what happens at the end of the year he just shrugged, a very impressive piece of body language that Europeans use a lot to express a range of different responses.

Today the village hosted a 'Elites without contract' Kermis, which I assume equates to the old Kermis races that we used to race 40+ years ago. The crowd and the hoopla were the same and it was easy to identify the racing I do with these young guns, always somebody up the road and if you just sit you're going to be toast. Of course these boys with the baby faces are bit a bit more like whippets that the Over 60 crowd but........

What I did think was sad was the fact that there was a better crowd today than for the big deal womens race over the same finishing circuit, although somebody did mention that its a local holiday today, still a bit disappointing though. I suppose the fact is that the Belgians have been supporting their local Kermis for simply ever.

Wim the Chef here moved the resteraunt and the bar out into the little square outside and did a big BBQ, not quite an OZ BBQ but then you wouldn't expect a good chef to do what I do in the back yard. I can vouch that it was delicious, I really enjoyed it and the young staff, young to me anyway, are a lot of fun so it was a good evening. Wim the chef and Jurgen the hotel owner were vying to buy me Leffe beers and I admit I was sinking fast so I thought I ought to beat a retreat while I could. The party is still going on I can hear the music, pity my daughter came last week, I didn't really know it was on, she would have had a ball, they already call her my 'crazy daughter' here, a term of endearment, I assure you, she's not totally crazy!

Tomorrow another easy ride but I'll make a few top end efforts to get my body back in the mood so to speak and I'll race on Wednesday.

Entretainment tomorrow is to watch juniors do battle over the same course as today, so I'll be able to sit at the top of our little hill and watch them knock .... out of each other,