Saturday, March 08, 2008
Back at it in Belgium!
Hi,
I’m back out in Belgium and settling in well at my new apartment! After a bit of deliberation I decided to stay with the same team, so i'm staying in the same area but in a town called Aarschot for this year.
I’m really impressed with the town. I’m smack bang in the middle just 30meters away from the square so see everything that goes on! Its very picturesque in parts, has 2 squares, a huge church, a market every Thursday morning and all sorts of events going on. There’s been a kermess (Belgian fun fair) on all week and a carnival last Sunday! I’ve kept of out most of the shops for now as they look rather expensive - not good for a bike rider! There are loads of cafes and the best/worse bit is one of the best choclatiers has a shop just over the road!
Well, I started full time training in January and had a week in the Algarve, Portugal, at the end of the month. It was spot on for training. The weather was nice, from 15 to 22 degrees and most days were sunny, not bad for January! The roads are also pretty good with decent surfaces and plenty of varying terrain. We had a good laugh with plenty of piss taking and getting some good training in, totalling 30 hours for the week with some intervals included to make the lads grovel a bit (and make sure it wasn’t me they were taking the piss out of!!!).
During February I ventured down south again for some training and a few early season TT’s. The first weekend was the GS Stella weekend, quite a prestigious event. I wasn’t going that well and despite giving everything in the event finished 2nd on both days and overall.
The next weekend I was going better and on the Saturday got the first win of the year in the Crawley CC Sporting TT. It was a nice day and with £50 up for the course record I had something to go for! I felt back to normal and had a good ride. I won the event by a minute and 10 seconds and took the course record by 20 seconds, which was held by rider Pete Tadros.
The next day I rode the Kingston Wheelers Sporting TT. I don’t know where to start with this! I was up for the double this weekend and should have had it! I had a puncture riding to the start and despite getting a wheel from an old teammate Marlon Moncrieff (top man!); by the time I got to the start I was 2 minutes late! That meant I had to wait for a new start time and got a 2 minute penalty! I knew I was going well but I knew 2 minutes was too much to over turn. Still, my actual time was the fastest by over a minute again, equalling the course record from last year set by another top rider Ben Instone. However, with the penalty I was put back to 5th. Still, that’s how it goes sometimes hey?! Hopefully next time it will work in my favour!
The next and final weekend was the Central Sussex Hilly TT, where I won last year. As this weekend was the last in a training block I was little tired but nevertheless had a solid ride, winning again! I was off to Belgium the following Thursday so decided to travel home for the Sunday and ride a local reliability ride (race to most riders around my way!), and say a few farewells!
The Thursday soon came and it only felt like a few weeks had passed since the end of last season! I find it quite a horrible time of year as you don’t really know how well you are going compared to everyone else and its too late to do anything about it! However I know I’ve had a decent winter and am a few kilos lighter that this time last year.
I had my first race of the year on the Sunday. It was the club championships, as they call it! It’s a normal kermess race but only open to a few local teams and the first from each team is the club champion! I had a strong ride, making all the moves but unfortunately suffering from cramp on the last lap came in 6th from in the lead group of 9. Still, it was a good performance and with my team mate winning my manager was happy, so it was a positive start to the year allround!
I had a good weeks training and I can tell you it’s a relief to be back training in Belgium away from the crazy British drivers that are so common on our roads!
The next Saturday, the 1st of March, was my first UCI race of the year, the Beverbeek Classic. This is 180km of flat, open and normally wet and windy roads! This year was no exception and it was blowing a gale! I started come down with a bit of a cold on the Friday but it didn’t feel bad so decided to go and see how I felt. It didn’t go very well! I got held up after the first crash of the day, just 2km in – I think still in the neutralised bit! After chasing back at nearly 60kmph (being on wide roads the bunch fly’s along for the first hour or so – normally covering 50/51km in the first hour!) I got back on with no real trouble but then it was already lined out at the back of the bunch in the gutter! I started moving up and got back into the pack, to get caught in another crash after 10km! So again I had to ride stupidly hard to get back on, hitting 61kmh this time! Again I was back in the gutter and in the next crosswind couldn’t hold the wheels given the efforts I had just made! I dropped back to the car for a bottle and got towed back up! I got back but the race was split all over the place and I was then in the ‘bus’ or ‘laughing’ group! After a few more kms, the race was well over for us and I could start to feel my chest and throat getting bad from my cold so I spoke to my manager, got off and had a ride back in the broom wagon!
My cold has nearly gone now and I’ve got Brussels - Zepperen Interclub race this weekend. I can remember it from last year for having a cobbled section of nearly 4km long!
Till next time.
Dan
I’m back out in Belgium and settling in well at my new apartment! After a bit of deliberation I decided to stay with the same team, so i'm staying in the same area but in a town called Aarschot for this year.
I’m really impressed with the town. I’m smack bang in the middle just 30meters away from the square so see everything that goes on! Its very picturesque in parts, has 2 squares, a huge church, a market every Thursday morning and all sorts of events going on. There’s been a kermess (Belgian fun fair) on all week and a carnival last Sunday! I’ve kept of out most of the shops for now as they look rather expensive - not good for a bike rider! There are loads of cafes and the best/worse bit is one of the best choclatiers has a shop just over the road!
Well, I started full time training in January and had a week in the Algarve, Portugal, at the end of the month. It was spot on for training. The weather was nice, from 15 to 22 degrees and most days were sunny, not bad for January! The roads are also pretty good with decent surfaces and plenty of varying terrain. We had a good laugh with plenty of piss taking and getting some good training in, totalling 30 hours for the week with some intervals included to make the lads grovel a bit (and make sure it wasn’t me they were taking the piss out of!!!).
During February I ventured down south again for some training and a few early season TT’s. The first weekend was the GS Stella weekend, quite a prestigious event. I wasn’t going that well and despite giving everything in the event finished 2nd on both days and overall.
The next weekend I was going better and on the Saturday got the first win of the year in the Crawley CC Sporting TT. It was a nice day and with £50 up for the course record I had something to go for! I felt back to normal and had a good ride. I won the event by a minute and 10 seconds and took the course record by 20 seconds, which was held by rider Pete Tadros.
The next day I rode the Kingston Wheelers Sporting TT. I don’t know where to start with this! I was up for the double this weekend and should have had it! I had a puncture riding to the start and despite getting a wheel from an old teammate Marlon Moncrieff (top man!); by the time I got to the start I was 2 minutes late! That meant I had to wait for a new start time and got a 2 minute penalty! I knew I was going well but I knew 2 minutes was too much to over turn. Still, my actual time was the fastest by over a minute again, equalling the course record from last year set by another top rider Ben Instone. However, with the penalty I was put back to 5th. Still, that’s how it goes sometimes hey?! Hopefully next time it will work in my favour!
The next and final weekend was the Central Sussex Hilly TT, where I won last year. As this weekend was the last in a training block I was little tired but nevertheless had a solid ride, winning again! I was off to Belgium the following Thursday so decided to travel home for the Sunday and ride a local reliability ride (race to most riders around my way!), and say a few farewells!
The Thursday soon came and it only felt like a few weeks had passed since the end of last season! I find it quite a horrible time of year as you don’t really know how well you are going compared to everyone else and its too late to do anything about it! However I know I’ve had a decent winter and am a few kilos lighter that this time last year.
I had my first race of the year on the Sunday. It was the club championships, as they call it! It’s a normal kermess race but only open to a few local teams and the first from each team is the club champion! I had a strong ride, making all the moves but unfortunately suffering from cramp on the last lap came in 6th from in the lead group of 9. Still, it was a good performance and with my team mate winning my manager was happy, so it was a positive start to the year allround!
I had a good weeks training and I can tell you it’s a relief to be back training in Belgium away from the crazy British drivers that are so common on our roads!
The next Saturday, the 1st of March, was my first UCI race of the year, the Beverbeek Classic. This is 180km of flat, open and normally wet and windy roads! This year was no exception and it was blowing a gale! I started come down with a bit of a cold on the Friday but it didn’t feel bad so decided to go and see how I felt. It didn’t go very well! I got held up after the first crash of the day, just 2km in – I think still in the neutralised bit! After chasing back at nearly 60kmph (being on wide roads the bunch fly’s along for the first hour or so – normally covering 50/51km in the first hour!) I got back on with no real trouble but then it was already lined out at the back of the bunch in the gutter! I started moving up and got back into the pack, to get caught in another crash after 10km! So again I had to ride stupidly hard to get back on, hitting 61kmh this time! Again I was back in the gutter and in the next crosswind couldn’t hold the wheels given the efforts I had just made! I dropped back to the car for a bottle and got towed back up! I got back but the race was split all over the place and I was then in the ‘bus’ or ‘laughing’ group! After a few more kms, the race was well over for us and I could start to feel my chest and throat getting bad from my cold so I spoke to my manager, got off and had a ride back in the broom wagon!
My cold has nearly gone now and I’ve got Brussels - Zepperen Interclub race this weekend. I can remember it from last year for having a cobbled section of nearly 4km long!
Till next time.
Dan
# posted by Dan Davies @ Saturday, March 08, 2008 
