Monday, June 30, 2008
Wins are like Buses this week!
Wins are like Buses!
I had a bit of a rough start to June, after not having raced for so long and the weather being so bad I got a bit over enthusiastic and raced 4 times in 8 days. 2 Professional Kermis’ and 2 Amateur ones. I was pretty screwed after this but thought it was what I needed. After a couple of easy days I was back at a Pro Kermis and feeling ok but still a bit tired, after 10 mins the heavens opened and we endured a thunderstorm and torrential rain for the better part of the race, in Italy the race would have been stopped or everyone would have got off. But Belgium, oh no, the hammer went down and the race was on. I had no aspirations for today really, not feeling great and being up against the cream of Belgian Pros I just tried to get round as good as possible. This I did but it was the next day when it went wrong. I woke up in the morning feeling ill and with a dose of Broncitis.
9 days later and I was able to ride my bike again! A bit of a blow after just getting going again, but as they say “s*** happens”.
I decided to ease into the racing after this bad spell and took a couple of weeks training again with some longer rides to try to get a bit of fitness back. As you could imagine I was once again raring to go, it was June and I’d only ridden 10 races!
Anyway I headed to Lede Pro Kermis alone, as my team where racing else where. To cut a long story short it wasn’t one of the best days, I had a flat after 3km and for some reason there was no neutral service and was game over for me! 3.5 hrs followed, sat in the car waiting for the finish, (in case of a control).
2 days later I was at yet another Pro Kermis’ at Ruddervorrde, traditionally this is the last race before the Belgian Pro champs so as you can imagine everyone and his dog where there. I got stuck in at the start hoping to get in a soft break to ease me into the day. I didn’t manage to make it and was stuck in the peleton for the remainder of the race. It was grippy all day but a good few ks in the legs, at last picked my morale up a bit. My director was happy and asked me if I wanted to start the following day in Oetingen (1.2). I happily expected the invitation immediately. He informed me that there were a lot of Kassei’ (cobbles) and it was a tough race. “Nothing out of the ordinary there then” I said. He just laughed!
I checked out the course when I got home and realised why my director had laughed.! The number of climbs was in double figures, including a few of the Ronde hills, the Bosberg, Muur etc.. also there where 2 cobbled sections on the finish loop to be covered 4 times! That’s a fair bit of cobbles.
Anyway I didn’t let any of that scare me (honest) I was on put on early doors so had to be active early on. I did a good job and got in the main break of the day. 6 of us battled through the strong winds and over the bergs with a maximum of 4 mins. The Bosberg was tough for me, the Muur a little harder and the next climb was that little bit too much. I cramped and was quickly dropped and riding alone in “no mans land”. I plugged away, got some food in me and 20km later was caught by the main contenders after the battles over the bergs. If I had any type of form this could have been a good position for me, but. I was finished. Game over for me. I did what I could for my 2 team mates in the front, bottles etc then hung on for as long as I could. This wasn’t long! We had just entered the finish circuit and the first time over the cobbles I was down and out. An early shower for me. I wasn’t disapointed, quite happy really considering my situation. The team where pleased with 2 hrs TV time, and I forgot to mention I won a couple of intermediate sprints for a fair few euros. Stijn Neiriynck from Beveren 2000 was the winner! Look out for this guy in the future, he’s no slouch!
A couple of easy days and I had the racing fever again. A short drive across the border to Holland, an 80km Criterium was on today’s menu. I expected a bit of a kick in today but it wasn’t to be. I had great legs and got in the main split of the day. 70k into the race and the break was coming back and I was still feeling good, I put a little dig in and 2 only 1 guy could follow. We went clear and were sprinting for the win. He was probably stronger than me so I was a bit cautios. I had the feeling he was a local as every one was screaming for him when we came though the line with a lap to go with about 45 seconds. I bided my time and hit out with about 500 to go. I won easily and for the first time after being driven over I had some faith back and was feeling proud of the progress Id made since November 22nd!
Next day and I was racing again in Wolvertem, a small town just west of Brussels. I expected to be a bit rusty today after yesterdays efforts so treated the day as purely training and planned 50km motor pacing before and after the 120km race. The race started fast, a break went after 2km and I had missed it. Damn!! I thought I may as well try a kamikazie attack and see if I could bridge across. I hit it full on and actually felt pretty good. I just about crossed the 45 sec gap before the crosswinds and was there. I felt ok but surely this couldn’t last. The laps counted down and it was nearing the end of the race and my legs were still good. Normally my feeble left leg was starting to moan at me and give me some problems, but good old “lefty” was going strong! There were 2 laps left and the lead group was down from 19 to 15. I attacked though the prime line and 4 of us pulled clear. I was amazed that I hadn’t cracked yet and started thinking how best to play my cards. There was a guy in the race that wins quite often out here, so I had my eye on him and knew he would attack. I was right and he went, I went with him and “then there were 2”. 1km out and he wanted to do a deal, I wasn’t interested and again hit out early and won for the 2nd day on the trot. From being dropped on the Muur last week and embaressed on national TV to winning twice in 2 days! What did I eat!!
As you can imagine I’m pretty happy with myself and have a bit of confidence back at last. However I need to keep it real, these are only small races. I need to be winning bigger and better races if I’m to get to where I want to go. Times starting to run out for me as I’m not getting any younger, there’s a few exciting things starting to happen in British Cycling at the moment. I think these next 18 month will make or break my carer. So I better get out training and hope the results keep coming!
Thanks again to everyone who has helped me out. You know who you are ! !
Matt
I had a bit of a rough start to June, after not having raced for so long and the weather being so bad I got a bit over enthusiastic and raced 4 times in 8 days. 2 Professional Kermis’ and 2 Amateur ones. I was pretty screwed after this but thought it was what I needed. After a couple of easy days I was back at a Pro Kermis and feeling ok but still a bit tired, after 10 mins the heavens opened and we endured a thunderstorm and torrential rain for the better part of the race, in Italy the race would have been stopped or everyone would have got off. But Belgium, oh no, the hammer went down and the race was on. I had no aspirations for today really, not feeling great and being up against the cream of Belgian Pros I just tried to get round as good as possible. This I did but it was the next day when it went wrong. I woke up in the morning feeling ill and with a dose of Broncitis.
9 days later and I was able to ride my bike again! A bit of a blow after just getting going again, but as they say “s*** happens”.
I decided to ease into the racing after this bad spell and took a couple of weeks training again with some longer rides to try to get a bit of fitness back. As you could imagine I was once again raring to go, it was June and I’d only ridden 10 races!
Anyway I headed to Lede Pro Kermis alone, as my team where racing else where. To cut a long story short it wasn’t one of the best days, I had a flat after 3km and for some reason there was no neutral service and was game over for me! 3.5 hrs followed, sat in the car waiting for the finish, (in case of a control).
2 days later I was at yet another Pro Kermis’ at Ruddervorrde, traditionally this is the last race before the Belgian Pro champs so as you can imagine everyone and his dog where there. I got stuck in at the start hoping to get in a soft break to ease me into the day. I didn’t manage to make it and was stuck in the peleton for the remainder of the race. It was grippy all day but a good few ks in the legs, at last picked my morale up a bit. My director was happy and asked me if I wanted to start the following day in Oetingen (1.2). I happily expected the invitation immediately. He informed me that there were a lot of Kassei’ (cobbles) and it was a tough race. “Nothing out of the ordinary there then” I said. He just laughed!
I checked out the course when I got home and realised why my director had laughed.! The number of climbs was in double figures, including a few of the Ronde hills, the Bosberg, Muur etc.. also there where 2 cobbled sections on the finish loop to be covered 4 times! That’s a fair bit of cobbles.
Anyway I didn’t let any of that scare me (honest) I was on put on early doors so had to be active early on. I did a good job and got in the main break of the day. 6 of us battled through the strong winds and over the bergs with a maximum of 4 mins. The Bosberg was tough for me, the Muur a little harder and the next climb was that little bit too much. I cramped and was quickly dropped and riding alone in “no mans land”. I plugged away, got some food in me and 20km later was caught by the main contenders after the battles over the bergs. If I had any type of form this could have been a good position for me, but. I was finished. Game over for me. I did what I could for my 2 team mates in the front, bottles etc then hung on for as long as I could. This wasn’t long! We had just entered the finish circuit and the first time over the cobbles I was down and out. An early shower for me. I wasn’t disapointed, quite happy really considering my situation. The team where pleased with 2 hrs TV time, and I forgot to mention I won a couple of intermediate sprints for a fair few euros. Stijn Neiriynck from Beveren 2000 was the winner! Look out for this guy in the future, he’s no slouch!
A couple of easy days and I had the racing fever again. A short drive across the border to Holland, an 80km Criterium was on today’s menu. I expected a bit of a kick in today but it wasn’t to be. I had great legs and got in the main split of the day. 70k into the race and the break was coming back and I was still feeling good, I put a little dig in and 2 only 1 guy could follow. We went clear and were sprinting for the win. He was probably stronger than me so I was a bit cautios. I had the feeling he was a local as every one was screaming for him when we came though the line with a lap to go with about 45 seconds. I bided my time and hit out with about 500 to go. I won easily and for the first time after being driven over I had some faith back and was feeling proud of the progress Id made since November 22nd!
Next day and I was racing again in Wolvertem, a small town just west of Brussels. I expected to be a bit rusty today after yesterdays efforts so treated the day as purely training and planned 50km motor pacing before and after the 120km race. The race started fast, a break went after 2km and I had missed it. Damn!! I thought I may as well try a kamikazie attack and see if I could bridge across. I hit it full on and actually felt pretty good. I just about crossed the 45 sec gap before the crosswinds and was there. I felt ok but surely this couldn’t last. The laps counted down and it was nearing the end of the race and my legs were still good. Normally my feeble left leg was starting to moan at me and give me some problems, but good old “lefty” was going strong! There were 2 laps left and the lead group was down from 19 to 15. I attacked though the prime line and 4 of us pulled clear. I was amazed that I hadn’t cracked yet and started thinking how best to play my cards. There was a guy in the race that wins quite often out here, so I had my eye on him and knew he would attack. I was right and he went, I went with him and “then there were 2”. 1km out and he wanted to do a deal, I wasn’t interested and again hit out early and won for the 2nd day on the trot. From being dropped on the Muur last week and embaressed on national TV to winning twice in 2 days! What did I eat!!
As you can imagine I’m pretty happy with myself and have a bit of confidence back at last. However I need to keep it real, these are only small races. I need to be winning bigger and better races if I’m to get to where I want to go. Times starting to run out for me as I’m not getting any younger, there’s a few exciting things starting to happen in British Cycling at the moment. I think these next 18 month will make or break my carer. So I better get out training and hope the results keep coming!
Thanks again to everyone who has helped me out. You know who you are ! !
Matt
# posted by matt8195 @ Monday, June 30, 2008 
