Belgium 2006, entry 13

I have less than 2 weeks left here in Belgium. It's hard to believe I've been here for 6 months, half a year. I remember thinking about it in March and really coming to terms with the fact that I'm living here, not just staying here. Well, it's almost time to move again, with all I need packed away in a bike box and a duffel bag... but not before a couple more UCIs! I'm racing Wednesday with the National Team and then my last race here is on Sunday in France. I've got good form right now so I'm looking forward to finishing off the season with a kick.

I did a U23 kermis yesterday in Kortrijk and had a good race. Arne, Kevin, Aaron, Sandy, Sean, and I represented the CC very well by racing aggressively at the front. There was, however, an unfortunate situation that occurred during the first lap that ended Aaron and Sandy's race early. No, not a crash... the course marshal wasn't paying attention and the peloton took a wrong turn! And you thought stupid stuff like that only happened in the US. There was an early break with 10-20 seconds that made the correct turn and with the wrong turn by the peloton, that group was gone. It was total chaos when 50 guys were trying to turn around and instead of neutralizing the race people just went harder. For those people who didn't turn around in time (Aaron and Sandy) their race was over. After the hectic first lap the race went pretty well. Unfortunately the break had a big gap and were picking up all the premes. Our team was racing very well and we were going with all the good looking attacks, although nothing seemed to stick. Towards the end the wind finally took its toll and broke things up a bit. Arne finished in the first chasing group, I think 12^th, and I finished with one other rider a little ahead of the peloton in 16^th. Kevin and Sean had strong finishes in what was left of the peloton. Overall a good day at the races.

I'll let you know how the last 2 races go. Thanks for reading. Vince

Belgium 2006, entry 12

First, let me apologize to my readers for the lack of updates. I know that I have been slacking on my diary and have no excuses. So I'm sorry. I finished the Tour of Antwerp last Sunday and was doing lots of kermis racing leading up to that. The kermis' were mostly U23 which are a lot of fun because I can race with guys my age instead of old dudes just in it for the money. I had a decent race in Deerlijk and a good one in Oostniewkerke, where I got 22^nd.

I did the Tour of Antwerp last year and was really looking forward to doing it again this year. Most of the stages were the same so I had a little advantage in knowing the roads and cobbled sections. I didn't have any outstanding results in any of the 5 stages but looking back can definitely see the improvement from last year. Last year I survived the race while this year I actually raced it. There were stages last year where I finished in the grupetto and barely made the time cut. This year I was active at the front of the peloton and feel like I actually did something in the race. Another promising fact is how well I recovered from day to day. At the end of the 4 days of racing I was very tired and had dug very deep but was nowhere near as wasted as the previous year. It is a good sign that I'm maturing and getting stronger as a rider. So things are going in the right direction... maybe not as fast as I would sometimes like but I'm getting there.

I had a great little visit from my Mom and sister after Antwerp. It was perfect because I got to recover physically from the race and refresh mentally by having family here. We enjoyed each other's company for 3 days and even saw some cultural and historical highlights of Brugge.

Looking ahead: As of now I'm racing this Sunday in France. I did it last year so it will be fun to see what I can do. I feel recovered from the stage race and I'm hoping I'll have some great form for the remainder of the season. Tuesday I race again, this time in Belgium called Wervik. That's the race I crashed in last year and took a chainring to the shin. I plan on crossing the finish line this time, hopefully in the top 30! After that, only a few more races and I'll be back in Michigan on September 6^th. Well, thanks for reading and I promise to post a couple more updates before my trip home, Vince