So life in Belgium has been a bit up and down over the past week and a half. We’ve been having this weather that the Belgians call “Maartse Buien.” It basically means wintry weather, but it can be better translated into English as “the most miserable weather I have ever had to train and race in in my entire life.” It has dropped into the high 30s to low 40s every day, which in itself isn’t bad, and is accompanied by endless rain and the occassional peppering of hail.

The weather itself is unpleasant but the worst part is trying to stay healthy. Everything is damp and cold. The Belgians aren’t too big on turning on the furnace – it costs too much money. So instead they all walk around coughing. But they have found the perfect remedy, smoking heaps of cigarettes washed down with a strong beer. No wonder they are sick all the time! Anyway, so I’ve been a little sick then healthy and now I’m back to being a little sick again.

Last Wednesday was a race over by Dunkerkque and did about half the race before pulling the plug. I just felt like hell and was going to get spat out the back soon regardless. It turned out to be a wise move as we had a big race on the weekend, Omloop van het Waasland. 191km with tons of cobbles and guys like Nico Eeckhout and Tom Steels tearing my legs off. So we get to the race Sunday, hop into the team bus and look out at these enormous black apocalyptic-looking clouds. No rain though. Fingers crossed the rain holds off! So we get off the bus and roll over to the start in the town square. The start is in Lokeren, the traditional finish of Omloop het Volk, and there is a big stage where every ride rolls up and signs in while the press take pictures, etc. As I rode up all the cameras are flashing and I’m thinking, “this is cool getting my picture taken” but the rider in front of me getting interviewed/photographed is Tom Steels. So I guess the cameras weren’t trained on me…

As for the race, I roll down the ramp from sign in to the start line and sure enough another of these Belgian/Bangladeshi monsoons roll in and I am immediately drenched. And freezing! So what else would we do but hit the gas even harder right from the starting gun. First hour was chaos. I mean full-on in the gutter, barely able to see through the rain, and hitting these sections of cobbles at well over 30mph. And some hard crashes. People dumping it on the cobbles, sliding out in the corners, or getting tangled up trying to fight for position in the front echelons going into the crosswinds. So first hour finished and we had averaged 30mph.

The next few hours were tough with the rain and wind. People were just popping off the back. No huge attacks or surges but just continual pressure. Yawadoo was not in the best shape either. We had started with seven guys and four were caught on the wrong end of early splits and crashes. So three of us left and the director kindly volunteered me to be the new workhorse. Going back to the team car and getting bottles at 30+mph was definitely not the most enjoyable experience! So after several trips to the car along with taking our designated leader, Devi Vervaecke, back up to the front of the peleton I was spent. The racing was getting faster and faster (or at least that is what my legs were screaming) and with 20km to go I was ridden out the back. The director was happy though. Got a thumbs up and a Coke as he blew by in the team car. One warm shower later and a huge Nutella and Banana sandwich, I was very happy, glad that Peter (my director) was happy with my riding, and looking forward to playing a bigger part in competitions of this caliber.

I checked out my SRM after the race. Averaged 28mph and just over 270watts for 90+miles. No wonder my legs were tired!

David

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