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AmateurCyclist.com is my way for my family, friends, and fans (?) to follow my cycling season. Enjoy my journals, photos and the rest of the site, and please feel free to post your comments and use the Feedback form.

-Todd Elenz

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Todd's Blog 
Author: telenz Created: 5/10/2005
Todd's adventures in cycling land.
Ode to the Offseason By Todd Elenz on 12/24/2007
Ode to the off Season Oh it’s that time of year again. The time for bike racers to get off the couch, go find their bikes (now where did I leave that thing…?) and begin losing weight (I’ve cut back to 8 Christmas cookies a day). After many weeks of negligent eating, you catch a glimpse in the mirror and are surprised that you no longer resemble a starving African. A few years ago, I would enter the “anorexic season” shortly after the holidays. Many uncomfortable nights were spent completely famished on my air mattress in my dank Tucson apartment. I’m past that phase in my life now. Being hungry isn’t fun, and besides, the bike racers in Belgium are shaped like linebackers. A few years ago, I asked one of the fastest Belgians I knew how to build more muscle. He had a perplexed look on his face and after a few moments said in a serious tone, “Try eating more ice cream.” After three years of bouncing off cobbles all over Northern Europe, I follow what has been dubbed the Todd Elenz Training ...
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Racin' in the Rain By Todd Elenz on 7/30/2007

Tuesday, July 3

Kruishoutem – We spent the first two hours of today’s race in single file.  We raced up the steep, cobbled Nokreberg 11 times.  Of course, everyone raced on the sidewalk weaving in and out of spectators and signs.  Halfway through the race, a lady who owned a bakery halfway up the Nokreberg decided that she didn’t want us so close to her door.  She blocked the sidewalk with a sign and nearly half the peloton creamed into it.< ...

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Glory Days By Todd Elenz on 7/6/2007
Andre has been watching bike races on nearly every free day of his life since 1946. Think about it. He had already witnessed 20 years of racing before Eddy Merckx and Lucien Van Impe ever set foot over the pedals. He first watched the grandfathers of my generation battling in the streets of postwar Belgium. Bike races were the Sunday leisure activity, and people never had to travel more than five or six miles to find the closest race. Cafes would bid for the starting line, sign in, and prize uitdeeling. Even the smallest villages held a race, often coinciding with the kermis, or city festival. Without holding a race, the kermis couldn’t attract a large enough crowd. At the time, amateur kermiskoersen were 120-130 kilometers (75-80 mi) long (compared to today’s 100-120.) Professionals raced 180 kilometers. That was before they began cementing over the roads, and the majority of the city streets were cobbled. Every city had its own hero, and as he set off for a race with his rugzak slung o ...
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Sprint, Turn, Sprint, Turn... By Todd Elenz on 6/15/2007
When I first came to Belgium in 2005, I was a terrible bike handler and a terrible sprinter. Three summers later, I’m still a terrible handler, but my sprinting has been upgraded to “bad.” The improvement is partially thanks to my inept corning ability. When you lose 3 or 4 meters through every turn and the guy in front winds it up to 30 or 35 mph, it takes quite a sprint to close the gap. Yesterday’s 72 mile race had 144 ninety degree turns. We sprinted out of each and every one of them. It rained the first two hours of the race, meaning we were forced to a near standstill through the turns, making the accelerations even more violent. My legs were heavy from Monday’s race in Ursel, where I was 12th, so I sat in last position and counted down laps. I had even convinced myself I would drop out “In one more lap,” to save some energy for the two interclubs coming up in a few days. In fact, I was dropped a few times (144 to be exact) and each time I barely made it back on. In the rarest of occasio ...
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May Racing By Todd Elenz on 5/18/2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 Harchies, Hainaut – People have been coming up to me congratulating me from my ride in Anzegem (Ster van Zuid-West Vlaanderen) last week. It seems everyone wanted to know who the American in the breakaway was all day. Fueled with extra confidence, I attacked with nine others before the first turn today, and never looked back. I wanted to win today, so I didn’t go for any primes, except one which I lost by a few inches and I felt like an idiot afterwards. With two laps (15 kilometers) to go, the breakaway split and for the first time, I made the front group racing against four others for the win. Pedro Rossel (ex-professional with Palmans-Collstrop) was in the group, along with a teammate, but my legs felt as good as new. We must have screwed around too much, and with a lap to go, a group of 13 caught us, making it a little more difficult. It’s all or nothing this year, so I attacked four kilometers from the end in pursuit of the two leaders. It was too soon to go into the wind, ...
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Becoming a Player By Todd Elenz on 4/30/2007
It’s been six months since I’ve had anything interesting to say, so read twice, because it just might be six more before you hear from me again! I landed in Zaventem, België, last week, so I should have more to write about in the coming months! Wednesday, 25 April, 2007 Laarne, East Flanders – Ten or fifteen riders broke off the front the first time over the cobbles. (Vince Roberge from Southern Michigan was one of them.) They must have been flying because the peloton was slung out in a long line, still losing ground. This year I’m only interested in the winning breakaway—25th place no longer interests me—so I have no problem overworking myself if I’ve missed the important move. The biggest misconception most Americans have is that they need to conserve energy for the end of a race. The first thing you’re told in Belgium is to attack, attack, attack. Go from 100 km out and don’t look behind. As long as you keep eating your rice tarts and drinking your Coke, you won’t run out of energy. A cy ...
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Ronde Van Antwerpen By Todd Elenz on 8/16/2006

August 10:
AM: 4.6 km/2.8 mi Time Trial
PM: 150 km/92 mi Road Race

I felt like I was trying to ride my bike through a giant swimming pool today.  After an hour of racing, I had to stop to avoid a crash, and as I was picking my way through the pile, some guy creamed into the back of my and I went sommersaulting.  I landed on my feet, however my bike was buried under a giant pile of bikes.  I grab my bike and end up dragging the whole pile of bikes as I start bolting down the road.

August 11
160 km Road Race/100 miles
I felt great today and sat right in the middle of the peloton and did nothing all day.  We were strung out all day, and rode the whole hundred miles in 3:40.  We had 10 kilometers of cobbles in the finale, and when the rain started, it made for slippery, muddy day.  O ...

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On The Attack By Todd Elenz on 8/9/2006

July 20             Geluveld Kermiskoers

Geez, I spent 90 kilometers on the attack in one of the hilliest races in West Flanders.  Last year, I attacked in the first kilometer and ripped out a 30 second gap before my heart exploded and the entire field passed me by the end of the next lap.  Today I got in an early break with Baert and Tailleu from Soenens Germond, a Beveren 2000 (satellite team for Quick Step), Bodysole, and a Cerdi racer.

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Last Week in Flanders By Todd Elenz on 7/21/2006
Sunday, July 16
Hot diggity, I just won the sprint today!  I suppose it doesn't mean much, since 16 were already up the road and the French officials messed up the results, but hey, C'est le vie.

Monday, July 17
The team has me on the "Gain 5 Kilos" program, so I rode to André's house to be stuffed full of potatoes, the next Belgian food staple behind beer, french fries, and chocolate.  Strawberries were ripe, so they bought a carton for dessert.  André gets the runs after three strawberries, and Anna doesn't eat much more, so they insist that I finish the box myself.  After
an hour of indigestion, they bring out biscuits, cookies, and chocolate to add a few more pounds to my GI tract.  This is the normal routine on recovery days, and so far there's been no change on the scale.

Tuesday, July 18
My legs f ...
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Bad Luc on the Kassei By Todd Elenz on 7/12/2006

Saturday, July 8. Pittem Interclub

This was my second year in a row racing in our local interclub, and the second year in a row that I came away with a bitter taste in my mouth. Starting in Pittem, three miles north of Meulebeke, we raced south into the hills and made a 70-mile loop before five finishing circuits in Pittem for a total of 99 miles.

We had a tailwind all the way into the Flemish Ardennes, and for 20 miles we flew along well over 30 mph. Through Ooigem, a group of about 20 split off the front with Dimitri making the cut. A second breakaway of five went on the Tiegemberg and dangled 30 seconds off the front of the peloton. The five miles between the Tiegemberg and the Old Kwaremont, one of the ancient fixtures in the Tour of Flanders, is on a giant highway before turning a right hander onto a one lane road. If you’re not among the first 30 going into the ...

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