Onto racing then, following 2 weeks of rolling around Belgium
at 30kmp/h I was always going to suffer when the pace was piled on. The first day back is traditionally never
more than a slacking off day. Back in my
office days it would be a day for a bit of light filing, followed by an early
lunch and rounded off by never quite making it back into work and calling it a
day by 11am…. Not in Kermisse racing though.
The course was effectively a massive criterium, which for those of you who
are new to cycling is a race based around a town centre featuring harsh corners
and short straights. The village of
Herselt was to be my reintroduction to racing.
16 tight corners on a 12 kilometre lap ensured some violent
accelerations coupled with a strong wind which ensured the race was spent
almost entirely in a single line. Initially I struggled, the sudden
accelerations put several bike lengths into me but as the races 120 kilometres
passed in a blur I began to feel better.
The race split badly at the half way point, a slight let up in the pace
every now and then had until that point kept the race together but with a solid
15 kilometres of brutal speed the damage was done and gaps appeared. I was in the second split on the road. We had little to race for with 35 riders up
the road but as I expected the word gruppetto (Italian, meaning last group on
the road) means nothing in Flemish so the attacks kept on coming from my group…
much to my annoyance. In the end the
needless attacking blew my group of maybe 30 to bits and I rolled in 50th
from 112 starters, not a bad result by any means as over half the field retired,
but it was well below my best. The race
was won in impressive style by a young rider called Shane Archibold of the New
Zealand team. The part that pleased me
most was not the result, nor the way I’d ridden, it was the fact that I was
more than up for the following day, the spark of competition was back and I was
ready for action once again.
Sunday was the second part in my racing weekend double
bill. I was looking forward to another
bite of the competitive cherry and the village of Hoegaarden didn’t disappoint. The course was as lumpy as school dinner
custard and the field was stacked with more hitters than an international
cricket team. We started straight out
the blocks and rode up the first hill before I’d even had a chance to catch my
breath. The pace was not overly fast by
kermisse standards but the poor road surfaces and nagging wind were taking
their toll on my tired legs. It became very
much a race of attrition as each time we crested the finish hill more riders
would climb off. I was gritting my teeth
but with poor legs I was having to make up places in the corners and slipping
back on the climbs. Sure enough my cards
came up with 3 laps left, I crested the hill a few bike lengths off the
remaining 60 riders and even riding at full stick for half a lap I was watching
the group pull away. I was left to ride
back to the finish with a rider whose wife regularly serves me at the local
bike shop. I tried to make light
conversation, explaining to him how his wife was generous enough to give me
discounts but at this point he had heard enough and mysteriously felt fresher
all of a sudden… so much for international relations, although I reckon he
thought I had been working on those with his wife. The victory went to an amazingly strong rider
by the name Tom David, another kiwi. I’ve
not come across him before which is probably due to my lack of result scouring
but I’m sure with the ride he did on Sunday I will see his name atop the podium
in much bigger races soon.
So there we go, not a particularly successful first
week back in the office but a welcome one.
Below are a few novelty shots that I spotted pootling around the Belgian
countryside
And finally a race shot from Saturday, and yes that does say baby dump on that blokes shoulders.
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