Definition: Vascular

The Abbreviated Conclusion to Ronde Van Vlaams Brabant

The highlighted result of the week was Aaron's 6th place in the individual time trial. The team raced especially hard on Saturday. We were aggressive the entire race and tried to make it into a breakaway. Unfortunately we burnt a few too many matches in the early part of the race and could not contest the field sprint. (If we had only known it would have come down to a sprint... but alas that's bike racing.) Sunday was the final stage, a 160km circuit race with 2 climbs and no fewer than thirty 90 degree turns per lap. Oh, by the way there were 6 laps. We counted the turns from the race book and I estimate that I made at least 200 turns during the race. Racing at the back of the peloton on a day like this was suicide. On the first lap I flexed my legs on the climbs and got into a small break. I really wanted to race in the early break and go for all or nothing on the last day. The peloton didn't give us much time and we were absorbed within a few kilometers. Another break formed but was brought back before the finish and the finale came down to a 70 man sprint. I "contested" that 70ish man sprint but didn't have the legs to pull off a result. So overall the Tour of V.B. was a bit disappointing. No good result. I think that my crash in Willowbroek stole a good deal of my racing form. The one good thing about V.B. is that instead of getting tired or weaker throughout the race I felt that I got stronger each day. So on to the next race (but not before I recover) and the next opportunity.

Tour of Vlaams Brabant- Day 1

I done screwed up the first day. May have lost my chance at a good final GC. Felt like a dull, rusty chainsaw... instead of a polished razor. No sense on dwelling on the past becasue I'm going bike racing again today. Nothing to lose now. I'll help my teammates and race as hard as I can.

Pre Vlaams

I've been recovering from my mild concussion, scrapes, and bruises with super human efficiency. I feel like I'm just shy of 100% but will be there in time for Vlaams Brabant, a 5 day stage race that starts Wednesday. It never ceases to amaze me how fast a battered body can heal given the proper rest and nutrition. Anyway, my pre Vlaams thoughts are these: If I can race at the level that I was before the crash, a good result is in the cards. I'm also eager to get back into the racing routine and what better way to do that than 5 days of hard racing. Vlaams Brabant is the province around Brussels, so the CC team will be day trippin' it and sleeping in our own beds every night... nice.

Here's the link to the race's website: http://www.rondevanvlaamsbrabant.be/

Today and tomorrow: rest, preparation, and organization so I can be ultra-efficient during the stage race. I'll post some thoughts and short recaps later this week... if possible.

1500 meters

Yesterday was one of the best races of my life. A Top Comp race in Willowbroek. It's unfortunate that the result doesn't show it. With less than 5km to go, I was in a group racing for 12th place, 25 seconds behind the lead group of 11. A top 20 was surely attainable. Then with 1500 meters until the line...I crashed. A Davo rider pushed me into the gutter despite my hand taps and yelling. I skipped around and hit the deck hard. 168 km of work out the window. My bike is destroyed, my body scraped and bruised. I'm no longer doing Tour of Liege seeing as how I need both recovery time and a new bike. A lot can happen in 1500 meters! But hey, it could have been worse.

schedule

Wednesday 7/11: UCI 1.12- GP Stad Geel
Sunday 7/15: UCI 1.12- Willobroek
Wednesday 7/18: UCI 2.12- Tour of Liege
Thursday 7/19: UCI 2.12- Tour of Liege
Friday 7/20: UCI 2.12- Tour of Liege
Saturday 7/21: UCI 2.12- Tour of Liege
Sunday 7/22: UCI 2.12- Tour of Liege

GP Stad Geel went ok for me. 170km in 3.5 hours! I finished but haven't seen results. Wasn't top 20, so nothing too exciting. The legs are good though and judging by the schedule there are plenty of opportunities ahead.

Pittem

The UCI in Pittem yesterday was a hard race... pretty descriptive huh, like there are easy races in Belgium? The course was a big loop of around 115km followed by 5 local laps of 9km. The big loop was almost an out 'n' back to the Flemish Ardens (aka the Tour of Flanders climbs). The wind was a factor because it was nearly all crosswind to the climbs. Nevertheless, 49 kilometers were covered in the first hour. That's... let me think... 49 kilometers per hour. For you folks stateside that's 30mph. So it was a sprint to the Kwaremont. I hit the base of the Kwaremont in decent, but not great position. I worked my way past many riders and moved up as much as I could on the climb. The legs were good. After the Kwaremont the peloton was totally destroyed and the race was probably over for more than half the guys. I continued in my small group, which I think was the second chase, which eventually caught the first chase group. By the time we arrived back in Pittem my group was racing for a few spots in the top 30... I think. (The result are still not posted, and I have yet to see them). The style of racing changed once we arrived in Pittem. It was Kermis time. Farm roads, crosswind, and a short cobbled section made the local laps the hardest part of the race (for me anyway). I don't know where I ended up but I feel like I was strong enough yesterday to have done better. I really believe that if I had raced to my full potential, I would have been somewhere in the top 20. It wasn't a bad day (Steven Galle was 14th), but it wasn't great. I'm racing Wednesday and then again next weekend. Then, if all goes according to plan I'll be doing Tour of Liege.

The Volk and The Yellow Bus

Not the best of days for the CC or myself. It wasn't altogether terrible but I don't feel that I raced to my full 100% potential. I did this race last year and the improvement is clearly visable but I hold myself to a high standard that I want to achieve. The race went over many notorious climbs such as the Eikenburg, Muur, Leberg, and Berendries (3 times). Throw in a couple of long, nasty cobbled sections and we've got ourselves a bike race. Being a Top Comp, the field quality was high and the peloton was nervous during the run-in to the first climb. There were a few close calls that shook me up a little but I did my best to put them out of my mind. My legs were feeling a bit "closed" but I managed to hold position over the climbs and cobbles. On all of the decisive sections of the race, guys would fall of the pace slimming the peloton down climb by climb. I unfortunately was in the wrong place on the Leberg when a crash cause a major split. I have no one to blame but myself for my poor position, though. The group that I was in was pulled with one local lap to go, so nothing to brag about in that respect... too bad. Steven Van Vooren was our best placed rider and Peter Horn wasn't too far behind.

I had a new experience after the race: I was selected randomly for drug testing at the yellow motorhome. I'm all for drug testing, but I think it would be more appropriate to test the riders in the top 10 and not the DNFs. I think only one of the guys in the top 10 was tested. Wierd. Anyway, after all the paperwork and 5 bottles of water, it was time. The doctors gave me detailed directions so that I was the only one to touch the cup and glass test tubes. Not once did anyone, other than me, touch the specimen until it had the locked cap on the bottle. Somewhat comforting, although the terms "lab error" and "percent error" have now started to worry me. Overall it was a very time consuming and somewhat violating process (no privacy), but I'm happy to take part in it if it will clean up this sport. I've been wearing a wristband for the past few months that says "I support drug free sport" and I guess that yesterday I was truly living that saying.