Belgium 2006, entry 4

Things are going pretty good right now in Belgium. The house is filling up, the racing legs are coming around, and the weather is getting better... well, maybe not that last one.

I did a kermis in Wallonia last weekend and felt really good throughout the race. It was in a small town called Choumont-Gistoux and the terrain in that region is quite different than in West Flanders. The circuit was about 8 kilometers long and included two 900 meter climbs. It was a fairly windy day and one of the hardest crosswind sections was after the first climb so I knew things were going to split up there. There weren't any other kermis' in the region that day so racers came from quite a distance to take part, causing the field to be very large. I think it was the largest field for a kermis I've ever raced in: over 180 guys. I got a decent start position and made it up to the front without too much trouble. This was my first kermis of the season and, in a way, I forgot how aggressive one must ride to do well. I played the first couple laps conservatively and when attacks started to go I went with a couple. The one mistake I made in the race unfortunately came at the breaking point. I was in the front when the move went up the road and the last rider to make the split was my teammate Steven. Instead of stepping on the pedals and jumping across, I doubted my sprint and eased off to allow the gap to form. I really didn't want to drag the entire peloton back to my own teammate, but I should have at least tried to jump and sat up if I couldn't open a gap on the riders behind me. Lesson learned. I rode in the third group until the end of the race which was one lap to go for our group. Out of the 180 starters only 31 guys finished. They paid to the top 30 (too bad for the guy who got 31^st). Only 15- 20 guys were in my group, which was pulled with one to go, so I was somewhere between 40 and 50. Not bad for my first kermis back in Belgium, but I have some work cut out for me.

This past week has been filled with good training rides and bad weather. I'm getting used to riding with wet feet and putting on my rain jacket too. It's not that bad though because when it does rain it usually doesn't last the whole day. A group of us did a 5.5 hour ride to re-con some important hills and went through 2 rain storms but arrived back at the Cycling Center almost completely dry. Tomorrow will be an easier training day in order to be prepared and rested for a big UCI race in France on Saturday. From what I hear, the course has rolling hills and is very open, so wind will definitely be a factor. Sounds like fun. Until next time.