Michigan Winter

What's up? Yes, I've been busy. Work at the bike shop is going fine and I'm continuing to hone my wrenching skills. Overhauled a mtb suspension fork last week and realized why road bikes are so much better that mtb's. Trying to ride my bike into work more often than I drive... without catching frostbite. The single digit temps and 5 inches of snow are making it tough. Overall things are pretty good though. The Panther/ RGF Team meeting is comming up and the kits and equiptment look awesome. I'm going to miss Belgium, but a new team and a new race schedule are refreshing. Keeping me motivated during the cold.

Crossin' it up

It's October and I'm racing cyclocross. Haven't been on the blog much but that's how it goes sometimes. I'm working at a bike shop in Plymouth and really diggin' it. I ride my new cross bike to and from the shop, work on bikes, and enjoy a beer now and then. Plus I'm learning a ton about wrenching. My plans for the fall involve racing cross here in MI, working 30/ week, and thinking a lot about what the hell I'm going to do next year and beyond. Hopefully the stars align and I win a cross race this fall but I'll settle for a podium appearance. Come out and ring a cow bell... and don't forget the beer.

Top 3 Reasons for a Cyclist's Blog-Slacking

1. The results have not been blog worthy.

2. The author does not have form to brag about.

3. The author left his creativity in Belgium.

I've been working part-time at a local shop which hasn't been bad at all. I ride to work and fix bikes all day... definately could be worse! Raced some of Superweek and did the Chicago Crit last weekend (see #1). I won't be going to Nationals as I had planned but will race out the remainder of the season here in MI. There are a good deal of criteriums through Labor Day, which should keep me semi-motivated and occupied. So until #1 and #2 change and #3 gets shipped back to me,

Peace

The Low Down on ToPA

It was a new experience for the team to have to defend the leader's jersey from day 1. I also have a new found respect for the top level domestiques who spend hours on the front of a race keeping a break in check and finishing the stage 15 minutes down. That's how I spent the first few stages. Unfortunately our team could not hold the jersey into Pittsburgh but it was still a sucessful week. 4 days in yellow and a stage win. Despite a crazy and dangerous last stage criterium the rest of the race was organized and the courses were tough. For being in the US, the ToPA exceded my expectations in terms of organization and race quality. I do have to say that on the final day the live TV coverage was a higher priority than rider safety, which I believe is totally wrong.

I left my teammates in Pittsburgh as they were headed back to Belgium for the Tour of Liege. I'm now in MI and will spend the rest of the summer racing locally and trying to earn a buck or two. I do plan on racing the U23 National road race in August but other than that I'll be rolling mostly crits... just my forte...not.

So if any MI folk know of any part time work, drop me a line.

PA

Just yesterday I was in a country where "dunk u wel," "alstublieft," and "speculoos" are the 3 most popular words. Now I'm back in the US of A where "extra-large," "instant," and "24-hour" rank among the top 10. It's both exciting and frightening to be back in America. I'm not quite home and won't be for another week seeing as how I have a job to do before hand. The Tour of Pennsylvania starts tomorrow. 6 days, 7 stages, and a lot of money to be won. The JCBA/ CC Team for the race is made up of Jim Camut, Steven Van Vooren, Peter Horn, Aaron Pool, Dave Nelson, and myself. It's a strong selection and I believe we can do very well.

It's been a while since I've done a race of this scale in the US. In Europe there are UCI races every week, but the the peloton isn't U25 and the language sure isn't English. Needless to say I'm glad to be here in PA, and looking forward to a great week of racing on home turf. I'll note the differences and get back to you. Till then... speculoos!

The 8 Day Rule

I think I should institute an 8 day rule: No racing in the week leading up to a major stage race. 8 days before = ok... 7 = no good. My last 3 crashes have all happened 7 days before big stage races. Last year I had a major crash in Willobroek, 7 days before Tour of Liege, and was unable to race. A few weeks ago I kissed the pavement, 7 days before Volta a Galicia, and luckily was still able to race (although probably not at 100%). And yesterday in Romsee, 7 days before Tour of PA, I took a little spill. I think I may have broken the curse yesterday, though, because I didn't touch the pavement. 50km into the race there was a big pileup near the front of the peloton. Unfortunately I was eating at the time and didn't have the braking power to escape untouched. I landed on a pile of riders and quickly rose to my feet, powerbar still in hand. After I fished my bike out of the pile (and chucked my powerbar) I checked it and started rolling. My derailleur was bent and by the time I got a bike change my race was over. No radios and car 24 in the caravan... not a good combo for mechanicals. Not my ideal last race in Europe. At least I escaped unscathed. On the plus side, my legs felt great in the 90 minutes I raced. Now it's all prep for Tour of PA. And in the future the 8 Day Rule will reign supreme.

Mini Training Camp

I'm in Houffalize right now with 3 of my teammates for a short training camp in the Ardennes. 3 long, low-intensity days of up and down. The weather is unbelievably bad. Yesterday it rained for the entire ride and it doesn't look much better now. It's June 13th and I'm wearing a thermal coat with a rain cape. Gotta love Belgium. My last race in Europe this year is Tuesday in Romsee. Then it's off to the Tour of PA from June 24-29. After that, I'll be sticking stateside racing locally, working a bit, and trying to hunt out a few big races to do. I think it stopped raining, at least for 5 minutes, so it's time to ride.

Volta a Galicia

An "in the car view" of the Galicia region of Spain.

It was a great week in Spain for the CC team. With strong, smart riding and selfless teamwork we took home 2 jersey's, the KOM and the U23 classification. Aaron Pool spent a day in the U23 jersey and Jim Camut took the final U23 classification while Steven Van Vooren wrapped up the Kom jersey before the race even ended. My race was spent in selfless support of my teammates, riding myself into the ground for them and working to defend our jersey's. Although I achieved no personal results it is a good feeling to know that my work was necessary to achieve the team result. We functioned as a pro team: each rider did his job and sometimes that job is not as glamorous as crossing the line first. Several stages I finished well behind the lead group, but where as in the past I would be frustrated... on these days I was proud! I covered threatening attacks in the early parts of stages, fetched bottles from the team car, and escaped in the early break to give my teammates in the peloton an easier time. A good domestique is a valuable asset to any team and now I fully understand the feeling that pro domestiques get with the success of their team leaders. I also know that my day will come and that my teammates would do the same for me.

The Volta a Galicia was a new experience for everyone at the CC. Spain was a new frontier as no one had raced there and no one knew exactly what to expect. There were teams with ex-pros that had raced the Vuelta a Espana and U23 teams from Portugal. Who knew what was going to happen. The rumor that the Spanish peloton races at one speed is nearly true. They ride very hard up mountains and then take the descents and flats fairly easy. I think they try to ride 38 kph no matter what the terrain is like! Where as Belgians race the crosswind, the Spaniards race the mountains. The other quirk about Spanish racing is the schedule and time frame. The Spanish are on Daylight Wasting Time: Race from 2-6, dinner (quite an ordeal) from 9:30-11, breakfast at 10:30. Everything is shifted 3 hours later than Belgium. Took a little getting used to but I liked it and rolled with it. Now it's back to the 8am wake up call. The course profiles in Spain were nearly impossible to memorize. It was like trying to study for the SAT's. Luckily they provide cheat sheets that fit into your pocket. Those little plastic cards were so valuable in knowing how the race would unfold, when to eat and drink, and what monster climb was comming up. I learned that the 20k climb is the staple of Spanish racing and that I can climb with those mountain goats. It was a great experience and I look forward to returning to Spain in the future.

Galicia served as a perfect prep for Tour of Pennsylvania, which is the next big race on the schedule. I think I'll do a one day race next week before hopping across the pond.

What would Spain be without a bull fight? Brutal.

A relaxed neutral start? We're sure not in Belgium. Jim in Blue. Steve in Green.

Aaron, Steven, and Dave after a long day of travel to Galicia.

http://www.voltagalicia.com/2008/index.php

100th Post, Eve of Spain

Ah, it seems like just yesterday that I created "the gutter" and posted my first blog. Now 100 posts later I'm sitting on the couch at the CC with facial stitches, watching a bad movie, getting ready to go to Spain tomorrow! It will be a new experience for me as I've never raced in Spain (or have even been there) and do not know exactly what to expect, save tons of climbing. I think the style of racing in Spain will suit my abilities or so I hope. All I know for sure is that I've prepared the best I can under the circumstances and I'm mentally ready. So the wise advice of the 100th post is this: the greatest power I have is not on my bike but rather the power to choose my reaction to a situation. You can contemplate that for the next week while I may not be able access the world wide web.

Tomorrow will be a long day of travel. A short spin on the rollers, 1 hour shuttle to the airport, 2 hour flight, 4 hour drive... Galicia. So until post 101, thanks for reading.

Have You Ever Wondered?

In case you were wondering what Belgian bike path tastes like, it's really not good. I took a bite on the way to the kermis Wednesday and went straight to the hospital. Talk about stupid crashes. I got taken out by my own teammate! I can't blame him entirely because he's new to Belgium and these bike paths can be confusing to the new arrival. It was a case of mis-communication and unfamiliarity with the roads. Unfortunately my face broke my fall and stitches were the result. The real disappointment was that I was unable to race and now I'm bruised up a week before the stage race in Spain. So I'm trying to rest, heal, and prepare the best I can for 5 hard days of racing in Spain. On the bright side, no broken bone and no broken bike. Next time I'll take a bite of waffle instead.
My face has been attracted to pavement for as long as I can remember.

Do I sound like Wenzel?

What do you do on the morning of a kermis race? Yes, it may sound odd to Americans that the races here are in the afternoons. No 5am pre-race meals here. I guess it's more spectator friendly when the race isn't at the crack of dawn, and you know how much Belgians love their bike races! So if my race doesn't start until 3pm, what do I do all morning? I could go for a short spin... but we're riding to the race today so the day on the bike will be long enough. Rest, yes. Hydrate, yes. Read, bingo. East of Eden by Steinbeck... really enjoying it. I'll stop now since I'm steppin' on the turf of Scott Wenzel, pro book blogger.

Weather is looking good for this afternoon and I haven't raced in a while so I'm pumped. Hopefully I feel like superman today.

Stupid Well Water

As I sit on the couch deeply searching for web-log inspiration, I'm finding that the well has run dry. But I must post for my thirsty readers nonetheless. Maybe night blogging isn't for me: Vince Roberge, Night Blogger... not to catchy. I suppose I can update my thousands of faithful readers on what's happening this side of the Atlantic. The rooms at the Cycling Center are filling up this time of the year and the kitchen is getting crowded. It's a time to meet new arrivals, learn names, and cook in shifts. At least you're never eating alone when you're sharing the back kitchen with 9 other guys. The weather has been good and the rides this week have been short. Poached a moped on the canal today for some free motorpacing and might race a kermis sunday. I'm feeling recovered from Triptyque and I'm preparing for 2 more big stage races in June. First is a 5 day 2.2 in Spain from June 4-8 and then there's the 6 day U25 Tour of Pennsylvania from June 24-29... a bountiful amount of bike racing.

I will now depart to think up some humorous and witty blog of the future.

a time to rest

Triptyque was a beast. Not many races have the combination of field quality and course difficulty as this bad boy. Day 1 went well for the CC Team as all 6 of us finished with the peloton. Yeah, after all those climbs there was still a pretty big group... crazy. So the race was wide open after the first stage which was a good thing for our team. Racing in the Ardennes is straight up awesome. The hills, the history, the war monuments, and the weather all make for very distinct racing flavor and can be repeated nowhere. The second day's climbs were longer and more selective and the weather made for a semi-epic day. Fog, mist, and cold temperatures all added up for a pretty miserable day on the bike. The team raced well though... at the front, going with moves. At the end of the day we had Jim, Aaron, and Steven in the first peloton and Ian, Peter, and I in the second. The finish was in a beautiful, German, valley town that was filled with cheering locals. What a great place to finish a race. Day 3 was the double: Morning TT afternoon leg breaker. My TT was plain. I was 70th out of the 135 racers still left. Ian beat me by 1 second after missing 2 turns... don't I feel slow! Steven had a good ride with an 8th place. The afternoon was only 110km but by far the hardest stage. It was like a condensed Liege-Bastogne-Liege. On the early climbs I wasn't feeling very strong and made a tactical mistake of poor positioning on a very decisive climb. On a good day I could have moved up as the climb progressed but I was going nowhere. As my group came came into town for a 20km final loop, we got the yank. DNFing is never fun, especially 20km from the finish. Steven busted out another top 10, as only 90 guys finished the race (190 starters). My overall feelings about the race are mixed. I climbed well the first 2 days and raced pretty well but I would have liked 1 good result and obviously to finish the last day.

This afternoon my legs feel like I've been hanging out with baseball bat-wielding children... like egg beaters have made their way into my muscles and gone haywire. So it's time to rest, recover, and focus on the next race which may come in the weekend.

Road Trip(tyque) this weekend

So, what are you doing this weekend? This is what I'm doing:

3 road stages, 1 time trial, 28 classified climbs. http://www.triptyqueardennais.be/

Leaving for the south of Belgium tomorrow... and I already have my climbing legs packed away right next to my tootbrush.

Tour de la Manche

stage racing= eating many plates of food+ resting (Steven and Peter here)+ bending your knee over 75,000 times.

Tour de la Manche was good. For long version see below.

Like a fine French wine the JCBA/ Cycling Center Team got better with age. Every day we rode stronger and as a more cohesive team until it culminated into a victory on the final stage! That's right Steven Van Vooren won the final stage on a tough uphill finish out of a small escape group. It was a win that not only reflected Steven's great riding and ability but the depth and teamwork of our squad. But allow me to take you back to the morning of Wednesday, May 7th. The entire team and staff departed the CC at 9am sharp for a long and scenic drive to the region of Normandy. Our hotel was a walk from the beach and a short drive to the historic WWII areas of Saint-Lo, Countance, and Utah Beach. A 2 hour spin along the coast and some course previewing opened our legs from the long drive.

The first stage was a 160km race that finished on a fairly flat local circuit. All the climbs were early on in the stage which made for a tough aggressive start. Christophe had a problem in the first part of the race so I dropped back to help him get back in the peloton. It was a bullet well spent but a bullet nonetheless. While racing into town there was a large split that I failed to make, but we had 3 riders in the escape of 30 so all was not lost. My own GC hopes were dashed on the first day though as the entire peloton stopped racing and finished 10 minutes down. Steven, Peter, and Ian finished up the road but not in the first group of 7, which was filled with pros and ex-pros. A respectable day, but nothing to celebrate.

There were 2 highly regarded French Professional teams in the race: Auber 93 and Bretagne Armor-Lux. The riders on these teams were all seasoned pros and their strength was only outmatched by their smart racing. It was one of these two teams that usually controlled the race and stage 2 was no exception. A very hilly course of about 155km, the second stage proved to be one of the hardest. The local laps were very challenging and whittled the peloton to a small number. One rider escaped solo to take the victory and the CC had 4 finish in the peloton. I really thought a top ten was in the cards for me on this day. I had great position with 3-4km to go... sitting in the top 5-8 on narrow roads, and then came the swarm and my energy expenditure to move up again cost me in the final 200 meter ride to the finish. I went backwards in the peloton very quickly in that final 200. Quite disappointing.

Day 3: Morning Time Trial of 14km and afternoon road stage of 105km. Ah, the double day. Up at 5:45 am. Metabolism revving all day. 5 hours of riding including warm ups and cool downs. Bed by 10:30pm. The time trial was absolutely CRAZY. I am 100% sure that there is no time trial in the US held on such a narrow and technical course. Most of the roads were about the width of a bike path and no section of 200 meters was flat and straight. The entire 14km was either up or down curving left or right. Steven was 7th and the rest of us were sandwiched between 20th and 45th, I think. I would say that it was one of my best time trials even though my result wasn't spectacular. The course worked well for me, the legs felt good, I had a great warm up, and I absolutely FLEW by my 1 minute man! That's a good feeling. The afternoon stage can be summed up in one word: teamwork. It was short, difficult, up and down, and then finished with 4 x 7km local laps on a fairly flat circuit. With 2km to go I got my engine chugging up the side of the peloton, picking up my teammates as I passed them. With a little more than 1 km to go we had 5 CC riders drilling up the side with me at the wheel. What a feeling! I self detonated for my teammates and watched as they kept going at the front, battling other teams. I felt like my effort had meaning as I watched Steven take 3rd in the sprint and Peter take a top 20. Steven took the young rider's jersey, even though he was 2nd or 3rd in the competition. The first 2 had other jersey's to wear.

The final day was the big one. Although it was only 145km, there were 4 hard climbs on the way to the finishing circuits. There were 5 laps of 5km with a 700 meter climb to the finish! My duty for the day was to be Steven's shadow and windbreaker. I positioned him at the base of the climbs and twice fetched bottles from the caravan for him and my other teammates. I felt like a super-domestique and took pride in protecting Steven in his Blue attire. We all made it to the local laps when the real fireworks began. Things started to blow on the tough circuit and Steven made it up the road with 4 others. Peter crashed on a decent (luckily wasn't injured) and couldn't make it back to the single file peloton. So Ian, Aaron, and I did what we could to keep the peloton on lock down, which granted wasn't much more than keeping good position and a good eye to the front. It was a suffer fest for the last few laps. The fatigue of the race and the burn of the finishing climb was only overcome by the fact that our teammate was in contention to win so we dug deep to keep going. I had a pretty good finish on the day (waiting to see results) but the most important thing was the win. A win for Steven, but more importantly a win for the team.

I'm chillin' today. Went for a short ride this morning and felt surprisingly awesome. Shutting down the engine tomorrow and then I'll start to prepare for Triptique Ardennais, a 3 day, 4 stage race in the hills of Wallonia, May 16-18.

The Weather Switch

After the race on Thursday the Tour de La Manche team did 2 additional hard days of training to get our bodies in stage race mode. Friday and Saturday were both 6 hour days with some work on the TT bike and plenty of hills. My legs were feeling pretty good despite the high training volume. I feel like the form is headed in the right direction and am looking forward to the race. Had myself a low key recovery day yesterday with a team BBQ in the evening. It seems like someone flipped the weather switch here in Belgium... beautiful blue skies and temps in the 70s! Because Belgium doesn't get this kind of weather often, the country drops everything to BBQ and enjoy life. Most people "made the bridge" from the Holiday on Thursday, so it was a 4 day weekend of good times for Belgians. And yes, "making the bridge" is a common term here.

Leave for Normandy on Wednesday. The race is Thursday- Sunday and the website is http://www.cyclisme50.com/

Hoboken, No jokin'

Seeing as how I raced for 185km today, this will be short. Meiprijs, the prize of May, a UCI 1.2 was today. Mad props go out to Aaron Pool who had the ride of the day, being off the front for around 160km and getting 11th on the day! Nice. The race was a flat 185km with some cobblestones and a lot of nasty weather. Rain, wind, sun... and repeat. My day was a series of ups and downs, mostly aligned with the weather. I was shivering at 3 hours in but by the time we got to the local laps (3x12km) my legs had opened up and I was feeling good. I even attacked in the last lap of 12km. No dice. Sitting in the top 20... 5km to go... Flat! I figured my day was over, but I chased like hell nonetheless. Apparently I had decent legs after 183km because I caught the peloton! What do you know? I was cashed after that and the peloton was strung out. Rolled over the line in 84th. Bummer.

Still no results from Affligem. Next on the sched is 4 days of stage racing in France (May 8-11).

Casey Hill Is A Smart Man

There's a crack in the glass coffee pot. A minor emergency in the back kitchen. What to do? Borrow the french press from upstairs or yank a bialetti from the front kitchen? I was in panic. Casey somehow used his brain without caffeine to come up with this. A work of art, titled: Ingenuity

Why is it that cyclists seem to have a need to blog about coffee? Lame.

GROTE PRIJS AFFLIGEM

Although I've yet to see results, I have a feeling I won't be too happy. Our team result was probably ok, but nothing to celebrate. I believe Steven was somewhere around 15th, and both Ian and Aaron were up in the hunt. By the end of the race most of the peloton was broken up and without a radio it is sometimes hard to know exactly where you are... you just keep racing. So I did. And I finished. Where? I'll let you know when I know.

It was a beautiful Belgian afternoon with a sunny sky, high temperatures, and little wind. The race consisted of 157km... 2 big loops, 3 local laps. Plenty of cobblestones, many small hills, and lots of turns made it a typical UCI in Belgium. The race was fast yet manageable for me, especially early on, as I covered several attacks and raced aggressively. It seems that all of my efforts were in vain, for when the real fireworks began I didn't have the legs, but more importantly the position, to take part. By the end of the race, I was pretty wasted and the most frustrating fact is that all the energy I spent translated into basically no result. I like to think I helped the team early on by covering moves. If I can take away some positives it would be that I raced well at certain moments, ate and drank plenty, and have yet another long intense race in the legs.

Today I'm recovering, resting, and hydrating... hopefully to come away from the race a stronger rider. It must have been the heat yesterday, my first hot race of the season, because I felt like I went pretty deep at moments and was definitely hurting last night. So on to the next race, the next chance.

Here's me looking "not so cool" with our "super cool" fan Blanca at the sign in of Affligem.

The H is O in this pic.

Number Crunching

There are 17 bike races in Flanders today... and 29 tomorrow. That's 46 bike races this weekend packed into an area little larger than 5,000 square miles. By my math, that's about a bike race in every 100 square miles. And that's not even on a big race weekend here in Vlaanderen. Flanders is the northern, Dutch speaking, region of Belgium and widely considered the heart our fine sport. The races this weekend will differ in age category and length but hold one thing in common: all the courses will be lined with fun-loving Belgians drinking a beer or enjoying frites. Belgians love their bike racing... from the 11-12 years olds all the way up to the pro's. Me, I'll be mixing it up in Affligem Sunday over the course of 157km. Better go spin the legs out and prepare my bike. It's still early in the season, the opportunities are plentiful, and the 100+ race weekends here in Flanders are on their way.