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 22nd.
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 6th. Well, thanks for reading and I promise to post a couple more updates before my trip home, Vince
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