today I finally get to relax, the first of many. I left my bike in Eugene and drove back to Hood River. I will hang out in Hood River for a week and then fly to the Snake River wilderness area and bow hunt for 2 weeks before planting myself in front of 3 inch thick text books.
So Long For Now!
as I sit here by Kennett typing away, I think to myself. what have I learned or gained from this trip? I have gained experience that no one can imagine, unless you have done a Belgium race. I have not finished a race yet, my goal is to finish one before I leave. people may think that I suck, but I am just ugly and slow. I try not to think about the races here, being competitive is one thing, but bringing your self down is another. I cant expect things here in Belgium, I have to want them. so each day I want to finish a race more and more. with only one week of racing left, I will accomplish my goal.
my last race was went well. the course was a brutal 8 km with 2 rolling hills and wind beating your face to the ground. the first lap was slow no huge accelerations but a good pace for myself. each lap the pace quickened, Belgium races only get faster, not slower. by now the wind is screaming by as we grind away. by the 3rd lap I am starting to notice that guys are falling off the back and I am 20 from the back myself. as start the 4th lap I am getting tired, we turn a corner half way. slightly up hill with a strong wind, the pace explodes. I cant hold the wheel, I panic, I stand to go faster but the wind sits me back down, I think of how nice that wheel would feel. but I cant, It speeds up. I am off the back.
What a day Kennett and I experienced! today we slept in as we always do, had some breakfast and planned out our day. 1st – we watched the Olympics and played some checkers. getting board with checkers we moved up to the 3rd floor of the house and we battled away with ping pong. it was an extraordinary set of games, back and forth. Kennett trying to slam it on me and I was trying to return the slams. after breaking a sweat playing some pong, we moped to our room and collapsed on our beds and watched 2 episodes of Prison Break. getting obsessed with a TV show is not healthy, so Kennett and I decided to only watch 2 at a time. then we went down stairs and cooked up 2 steaks that I marinated in olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. ooh wee they were tasty, and we had our own choice of how we want our eggs cooked. after this we watched more of the Olympics and played checkers while drinking tea. after drinking my vanilla tea we played more pong and watched more tV. our days of rest have been very exciting as you can see!
Finding internet is getting harder and harder each time we use it. We have to walk around the town searching for wi fi, but each time we find some it gets locked or we get yelled at by some crazy Belgian. Today I found a good spot with fast connection. It’s right on the bike path along the river, peaceful and quiet with ducks quaking along.
Yesterday’s race was the worst race I have ever experienced in my one year of riding. Everything went wrong. The first turn of the day was a round 500 meters from the start. I took the turn to wide and wasn’t aware of the side barrier in the middle of the road and was forced to hop over the first part with my front wheel. I was to slow, my back wheel slammed into the barrier. Shit, I thought I had a flat, nope. My legs felt stiff and tired, racers just blew by me. After each corner my big ring kept popping in to my small ring. Making it impossible to sprint out of any corner with the horses I was with. At about the 4th km I was behind my team mate Eliad, his wheel got caught in the side of the roads crack. Reacting to his reaction I swerved left almost doing the same thing, but we both pulled out and pedaled on. Shaking nervously I was angry, after droppings out due to weak legs I started laughing. All I can do is keep trying. This next week will be a rest week leaving me with lots of easy rides.
Racing in Belgium is an experience not found in the states to my knowledge. Racing in one mass start, Elites and U23. If you are 19 yrs old than your with the big boys. I often wonder if I would have started racing if I was from Belgium. Starting at the age of 20 is not possible in Belgium, because I would last a quarter of a lap, my best yet is 6 laps. After 5 laps I couldn’t count, to much pain to think.
Last Sunday’s race went average, it had a challenging course for here and there was a brutal head wind. The course had two small hills, considered humps back home. Here they are considered hills, because you’re going so fast that they are challenging, making it one ugly hill. I couldn’t imagine doing this pace back home in a cat 4 race, never.
The race started off fast as usual, but I felt comfortable in this race. I held my wheel as best as possible and ignored all the yelling and screaming at me. If someone elbowed me than I would elbow back with a little more force. This race was on a very narrow road, little tight with 120 racers! On the first two laps we would get a good rhythm going and be spaced out in a huge long line. All of the sudden we would be bunched together yelling and leaning on each other. Someone in the front would hit there brakes and it would intensify more and more each time. When it got to me, me being 80th back I would slam on my brakes shift my butt to the back of my saddle and go woe there. The smell of carbon brake pads smelt horrible, but we moved on. After the third lap I was on the very end of the peloton hanging on for dear life, and woof I was gone by the 4th lap. Pedaling as hard as I possibly could, but it did nothing. This hump they call a hill threw me off the back and the peloton slowly disappeared.
After my painful experience I did a half hour cool down and returned to the car. I was angry, but pleased cause I knew that these were some fast mofo’s. After talking with my coach Gal he ordered me to do 12 intervals of 15 sec. sprints and finishing the minute in my biggest gear all out in the saddle. So I headed out to more encouraging pain(very nice). I stopped by the restroom frustrated and when I took off my jacket I forgot that I hooked my sunglasses on my back collar. Kusemic! They fell right in the toilet of the outhouse, which topped off my frustration for the day and I went on a beautiful training ride!
Yesterday I went to the veledrom with Gal and Tal. my goal was to not get dropped like last time(3 times), and grind in a big gear at an 80 cadence and attack of course. so I sat in and grinded away, it wasnt easy but not life threating. if I pedaled at a fast cadence it was much easier, but I was there to suffer. so I would attack when my tanks were full and when I was on empty I would reach down deep to my reserve tank and get lower.
Pain
Pain
the question is?
Pain
Pain
how long can you suffer?
After my attacks I wanted to stop, so I would try to get on the end of the train and slowly the pain goes away. when the tanks tally to the top. to the top I would go and attack again. this is how my race went, over and over again. Very nice….
as the day grows older the heat beats down on Kennett and I as we prepared for a day of racing with the Belgians. I hope to improve each race. so far I have improved twice as much each race. on that monday we started the race a little different than usual. slow with short attacks, instead of long hard attacks. the ones that make you think “Why in fuck am I on a bike”. yeah those kind of attacks, but this day I held on for my life, and when I felt like it. I attacked, I figure you might as well be 1st or last. so I ride to die or nothing at all. so this race I lasted 6 laps, an improvement yes, faster than a cat 1 race yes, priceless yes.
this race was my best so far, but I want to finish a race before I leave.
I think it would be impossible to start riding like I did back in the states. The racing here is very fast, it is like riding with cat 1’s in each race. Today we went to the velodrome to work on my hard cadence, Gal wanted me to keep an 80-85 cadence and attack a lot. So I did, treating this like a training race. I attacked right from the start, one after another until I died and got dropped from the peloton. So I rode the high line of the track and recovered and then attack and die again. This track racing is very fun, cause I would try to attack every time, and if I died then I could recover and attack again. The track racing is very fun, it is intense. 40 to 50 people in a 500 meter track giving it all they have, with many languages being yelled back and forth.
The training today was a easy and relaxing, I did two easy one rides at a really easy pace. Gal (my coach) says that his grandma should be able to keep up with me. luckily I have a 23 X 11 cassette, so I get to go a little faster. Gal tells me that you have to learn to ride slow, before you can ride fast. so I hold the tiger inside me, keeping it on a leash. my rides were slow and fun, on my first one I cant remember much cause it was so easy. Just another day on the bike, everyday is a good day on the bike, rain or shine. on my second ride I my legs felt great, but my head didn’t agree. I think I was low on sugar, when I am tired I usually am. so I stopped at this little shop and bought a tub of nutella and a chocolate eclair. wawawewa, that felt awesome. feeling charged up and ready to go I went back in delight.
Today I venture out alone, again. I went on a 2 hour ride at a medium speed with 20 sprints 15 seconds each with 45 seconds rest. I headed out to Durbuy, a small tourist town with lots of old cobble stone streets with old cobble stone buildings with a small castle here and there. The ride over is beautiful, hill side after hill side with fields of hay, forest and orchards go by as I pedal by. Something was strange with this ride, it felt amazing. I couldn’t figure out why until I passed a fellow teammate and he tapped his helmet a couple times and pointed back at me. I thought oh shit my helmet isn’t on, oops. so I ventured on and thought oh well. When I arrived in Durbuy it was full of tourist and many restaurants, bakeries and ice cream shops smelling of all the foods I dream of each night. The food cooked for us is horrible, edible but not what I am used to at home. No fat, salt or sugar used in the cooking. Yeah its cheap food but ugh, I feel sick after each meal. The smell of food in Durbuy was dreamy. As I pedaled away to start my sprints, my mouth watered with hunger of tasty food. The first set of sprints was painful; I did them on a 5% grade making it hard to spin my legs out. After a ten minute recovery I started them again, this time they felt much better. I did my second set on a 3% grade to flat ground. With my new form that I learned from Gilad my coach, I feel much faster and powerful. With my head held down and hips higher I have much more power from my gluteus maximus and hamstring while keeping a faster cadence too. Today was a good ride, I felt very powerful from the average day.
