There’s no time for an ice cream

Having raced twice already in the last week, my motivation was slightly lower than it should have been for Sundays 116.5 kilometre kermise just south of the city of Leuven.  I have come across the line ‘put a number on my back and I become a different person’ a number of times in my cycling magazines.  I’d love to say I was the same but getting up on a 27 degree day and beginning the routine of getting ready for a race when really I wanted a barbeque and an ice cream was perhaps a sign that I was in for a mediocre day.  My pre-race routine is almost a carbon copy every time, breakfast of cereal and toast, followed by a leisurely packing of my kit and then ‘3 hour pasta’, basically plain spaghetti 3 hours before I am due to take the start.  We arrived in plenty of time, kermises out in Belgium all have a similar feel to them.  The finishing straight is lined with barriers, there is always a loud speaker stuck to a lamp post beating out a collection of horrendous Eurovision tracks.  As you roll down to the sign on to ‘Katrina and the waves’ in the background there is always a strong whiff of embrocation from the riders changing rooms mixed with the rather more enticing smell of hotdogs and burgers from the obligatory grill.  Summer seems to be a better time for kermises than the misery of February races.  As I ride back to the car, race number already pinned on I have a brief chance to glimpse at the good looking women who line the side of the road.  To be honest I probably should be paying attention to the competition but living in a small village does have its draw backs in this department! With about 15 minutes to go every rider is busy doing smaller and smaller runs up and down the finishing straight, just waiting for the first rider to line up for the start before the rest of the field copy him, if you’re lucky you can be fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time and grab a space close to the front.  If you’re not….well let’s just say I have been 30 rows back before in a 280 rider field and it’s not pretty seeing the lead rider rounding the first corner 500 metres up the road before you’ve even clicked your feet in!  

On to the racing then.  The course was not too bad, a couple of drags to break up the field on an otherwise pretty routine 7.2 kilometre circuit.  The heat was the main problem for me, 27 degrees and a head in need of a trip to my local barbers meant I was going to struggle to stay cool and hydrated, but it’s the same for everyone.  I kept myself up to the front early on to go with any attacks.  I bridged a gap after maybe 40 kilometres, more as a test of my legs than a serious attempt at a break away, the results were not good, I was going to have to race defensively as my legs were abit sore from the week’s exertions.  The break went at the half way mark, 28 riders split off, I would have to accept I was not going to be up for the win.  I treated the rest of the race more as training, attacking a couple of times and doing a few long turns on the front of the peloton.  The break stayed away, knowing that I was already out of the money I decided not to sprint and ultimately rolled across the line in around 60^th.  For the next week I will be having 3 days off the bike, a trip back home and the joys of the dentist await me, but come Friday and I will be back out to Belgium.