| 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 cyclist should be able to drill himself for three or four hours, repeatedly hitting his max heart rate. The success of the “old rats” (as they call the old Belgians) like Guy Smet and Stefaan Vermeersch comes from their ability to slither off the front without expending as much energy. Once a sizeable gap is established, they are able to use their remaining reserves to shatter the breakaway until it is down to just one or two.
I’m not quite as refined; instead I prefer to attack wildly until I piss enough people off to let me go. It took me two hours today, but I eventually got away with the second breakaway. The group split and reunited several times over the next hour, and after 15 or 16 times over the cobbles, it was as good as blown apart. After a 180 degree turn with 250 meters to go, I lead out the sprint from my small group and was barely nipped on the line by a Lithuanian. 28th from 130.
Saturday 28 April, 2007
Anzegem, West-Flanders – The show is on. I lead today’s interclub (Ster van Zuid West-Vlaanderen) for 100 kilometers with some of Belgium’s best. I matched guys like Wesley VanSpeybrouck (rode for Lotto-Domo), three Quick Step U23’s (Beveren 2000), and Luigi Meersman (his brother won a stage of Tour of Georgia last week) pull for pull for two hours when chase group caught us, making it 31 at the front and the remaining of the 170 a few minutes back. The attacks flew and my tank ran out 30 km too early, but I was second in my group’s sprint to hang on for 26th place. A bunch of old ladies started giving me kisses and hugging me after the race. My hard labor got me some shots on national TV, but no prize, since they paid 25 deep and I didn’t go for any primes. I have to be content, but I know the legs I had Wednesday would have followed the attack two laps from the end. I won’t to turn into one of those “I could’ve” guys, so I’ll just drop it there. It’s time to start winning some bike races.
Todd
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