Return to Belgium

With perhaps a slightly ambitious turn-around time and a race thrown in for good measure, it’s fair to say I had a fairly hectic weekend planned. However, I’ve only 4 weeks break now until starting the final term in the beginning of May, and am determined to make the most of it. I’m planning 2-3 races a week and it started last Sunday.

With term finishing last Friday, I arrived back in Chelmsford Saturday morning, and it was straight to the Chelmer Cycles workshop for a ‘surprise’ visit to prepare my Cannondale SuperSix for the next 4 weeks of Belgian kermising. With a complete service to do, tools were put down my bike was worked on all afternoon and into the evening to get it ready for the 5.30 departure the following morning. These guys are legends. I’d like to suggest there are few bike shops around who would refuse to put tools down and work well past closing time to complete the job. What I’m saying is, if you want your bike built (and built with anal precision), then pay Chelmer Cycles a visit. 

After a late night, early morning and plenty of travelling, racing was perhaps a little ambitious on Sunday, my thought process being that my first race was never going to be great - it never is - so why not get it over with? 50 minutes later, it was. My second season in Belgium had begun. And I knew it.

With the next race not until yesterday, I re-convened after the long winter with Hamish Haynes - http://www.hamish-haynes.com/ - for a good training week, including a near 7 hour epic in the Ardennes, with over 3000m height gain. A realistic ride for the Alps! Who said Belgium was flat...?

Yesterday I raced in Heist op den Berg, a 110km evening race on a totally flat circuit, blessed solely with 3 corners, good road surfaces and not even the slightest breeze to contend with. 208 riders took to the start on what promised to be a fast race – and hopefully a chance to get some speed back into my legs after an elongated winter period. The plan was just to sit in, get some race kilometres in and see how it played out. Half way through the race and 25 riders hovering a minute or more up the road, I moved toward the front and tested myself with a few efforts. With 5 of the 20 laps to go I attacked into a 12 man chase group and quickly distanced ourselves from the peloton, but had left it too late to bridge to the leaders. After the longest sprint in bike racing history – 3 of us side by side for 800metres?! – I finished 28^th overall. The result being irrelevant, I had good feelings during the race and felt I was riding well in-side myself during the chase effort; all good signs for a hilly one tomorrow in Hoeilaart.