Sterrebeek

This race was a short ride from my home. I'd been training well, putting in between 16-18 hours a week so felt a little tired, but I also felt good.

The race start was typically jovial, with loud music, a bbq and plenty of beer. I had a good warm up on the way out and was looking forward to the race. Even I looked happy...

It started fast, but I felt good. On the flats I felt ok, on the hills I made up places while recovering. Great! I'd been a bit coy in previous races, probably because of a lack of confidence. In this race I'd decided to be a more agressive. I was ruthlessly holding my place in the bunch, and I think it was a change in mindset that had me in the top third of the bunch.

There's alot of sprinting in Belgian races. Every corner, hill or attack means an all out sprint to respond and stay with in the mix. It's more intense than most of the 1 hour crits back in the UK, with the added bonus that it's at least 100k! The bunch rides single file most of the time, each rider clinging on to the wheel in front. It makes staying near the front more important than ever. Within minutes I was passing riders who were struggling and the first split happened. I was elated to be in the front group. I felt good and settled into the race. Then I got a puncture at 50km/h and dropped out of the front group with the second coming by shortly after. With the race so stretched out, the support vehicles were a long time coming and the race had long since gone.

I had an unattractive and petulant few seconds.

I was gutted, but rode home thinking that I'm making progress. When I got home I heard the news that some friends had suffered a nasty crash in the Etape de la Defonce, in Wales. It put my bad luck into perspective as news that the team time trial had prematurely ended with two riders going down - one being knock unconcious and another dislocating a shoulder. Nasty stuff. I'm hoping they recover quickly and they're back riding soon.

The day after the race I went back to Sterrebeek and rode 8 laps of the course at race pace. I went all out on the climbs, held FTP on the flats and recovered on the descents. I even faked a winning dash for the line on every lap.