Back to Life

I'm back in the swing of things, work and play, although isn't it hard after a particularly good vacation? Not only did vacation end, but so did my race season and 10 months of training and racing. If I weren't exhausted, I might feel depressed, but I don't think I even have the energy for such self-absorption. Life feels flipped on end.

Ward and I bought a new car, a Honda Element, picked it up Friday afternoon and promptly stuffed it full of ski and snowboard equipment and headed north to the mountains. Might as well test its versatility in our lifestyle immediately. We visited his parents, our friends Matt and Martha and their cute new baby, then went night snowboarding at Bretton Woods Sat night and spent all of Sunday on the mountain. So, I am left with a dilemna: do I prefer skiing or snowboarding? (Life is tough, eh?) I think it comes down to the conditions, really. Powder = ride. Firmer = ski (I like the "comfort" of two edges on ice.) Packed groomers = either! The snow was great at Bretton Woods this weekend, and I split my time between one board and two. I've got a pair of used tele skis on loan (before purchase) so all I need is some boots, and I'll be good to go. Talk about strength building: doing lunges on skis all day. Look out for my sprint this road season!

The season's over, but every night, bike racing somehow infiltrates my dreams. Last night, my dream had to do with getting my bike assembled before a 4 pm race start, and I needed a part for the threaded headset. One of my collegues at work said confidently they could fix it, but he ended up ripping it apart with a huge adjustable wrench, and then I feared I would miss my start. (Strange from many angles, and when was the last time I rode a bike with a threaded headset??) Somehow, and for some reason, cycling is a part of my dreams every night. I think I seriously need to unwind and release and have some fun for awhile. Time to ski and eat! I plan to spend at least another week off the bike, although I'm getting nervous since I've relaxed a little bit (ok, more than a little bit) in my eating habits and have gained a few pounds.

I made a new dish tonight, it's called Tzimmes. I found it in a cookbook, and it is savory! Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and carrots, simmered with prunes, cinnamon, ginger, orange zest, and brown sugar. The cookbook said it is a traditional Jewish dish, usually served on the New Year. It's going in my book of favorites. I'll send you the recipe if you'd like.

I never write much about work, after all, this is supposed to be a bike racer blog, but I'm starting something new at work that might be worth mentioning. I'm teaching world percussion to my 6th grade music classes. We have a whole set of percussion including congas, talking drums, hand drums, shakeres, agonkua bells (I know I spelled that wrong), and other goodies. It's going to be a fun new challenge, and it'll liven things up in the work end of my life. (As if teaching 5th and 6th grade music wasn't "lively" enough!) I'm enjoying it so far, and I think I might even attend a monthly drum circle for extra fun.

Last Thoughts

I am sad to leave this place. I love the simplicity of my life while here. I love walking to the bakery for fresh bread and pasteries. I love hopping on my bike to explore new roads in the beautiful countryside here. I enjoy the cute brick homes, modest-sized cars, farmland and the roads that lead from village to village. There are so many roads to explore! And of course, the racing is incredible.

I had fun being the only American in a house of three Canadians, and being helped by Jos and Tim, who are British. It lent a nice international flair to my trip, but without a language barrier. (Well, once I got past hearing "eh?" all the time!) Thanks to Vicki, Mark, Shaun, Jos, and Tim for helping me so much! If it weren't for you, I'd probably still be looking for registration at Scheldecross... if I ever found the race!

Sadly, I have several regrets about my time here. Maybe I shouldn't say "regret," that's probably too strong a word, but there are a few things I wish I had done while here. First, I can't believe I'm leaving without ever having had a beer. It's tough to fit in a leisurely drink when you're racing and staying with racers who are racing just about every day. And I wasn't about to go out for beers before racing in a World Cup! There's a tavern near the bakery, across from the church, and I saw three road bikes leaning up against the front this afternoon. It would have been nice to stop in for a beer after a ride with friends, something we don't get to do enough in our fast and exhausting world as racers.

My second "regret" is that I never really went out to eat, and for the same reasons as I didn't get to have a beer. You get home, wash, clean and lube your bikes, wash your clothes, wash youself, cook dinner, eat, and then get packed for tomorrow's race. There was neither time nor energy for dining out. I would like to have learned more about the food culture here than chocolate and frites. We went out once, to the Sultan in Herselt, on a rest day, and there I had some meat (not sure what kind since I could hardly read a word on the menu) fried with mushrooms, peppers, and onions with half a plate of frites and my choice of sauce - curried ketchup. Delicious, but possibly not the best pre-race meal....

Finally, I would have liked to stay longer and to have shared the experience with Ward. It's hard to share everything through emails and Skype calls, and I would have loved to have had his support and shared the whole experience together.

I have left myself wanting more, and I hope to be back again in the future. I'll miss Belgium!

In the town of Westerlo.

The beer aisle in the nearby Carrefour, a big store with everything from clothing to electronics to books to groceries. Most of the left side consists of specialty beers like Trappist ales (although I spot some Corona there).

The road back into Blauberg on my ride today. The surrounding forest had lots of trails that would be great for cross or mountain bikes. I saw lots of riders out on this beautiful day. It was 7 degrees (about 45 F) and partly-cloudy today. I really lucked out on the weather while here!

A road leading out of Blauberg.

Azencross - No Fight Left In This Dog

If you're looking for my name in the results, I might save you a moment by telling you to start your search at the bottom of the results page - assuming they list finishers that deep. A last race of a long season, and I had nothing at all left for this one. I lost my heart rate monitor over a month ago, but had I worn it today, I can assure you it would never have registered much above my easy zone. I was going so slow it felt like warm-up pace, and every time I got out of the saddle, I slowed up more. I just had nothing to give, and I wouldn't have raced if it weren't my last chance over here. Oh, and I really wanted to try those whoop-dee-doos!

The start was crazy. As I was taking my leg-warmers off at the start, I heard my name paged to report to the start/finish area to sign in. I knew nothing about it - when have you ever had to sign-in at the start/finish for a cross race? Apparently, I missed some sort of rider presentation. I had been off searching desperately for a porta-john. They do not make that easy here. I missed most of my warm-up time weaving through massive crowds of people on my bike looking for the plastic thrones. Eureka - right next to the open outdoor public urinals. (Well, there's at least one thing about Belgium I won't miss.)

Fast forward to 1:30 pm. We were staged, I was bare-legged, the official gave the "une minute," and then said, "Wait for the light." Huh? Light? A few seconds later, everyone jumped. Then I noticed the traffic light ahead above the road. Green. Aah. That light.

It was another crazy start on a very long stretch of road into a right hand turn. I didn't have a good start, mostly because my legs had no jump. There was an enormous mud field that probably nobody rode, even the amazing Hanka. It was a long slog of a run for me through deep mud and up a fly-over. I could barely run up the ramp due to fatigue. The whoop-dee-do section was at the end of the lap, and would have been much more fun if I could have taken it with more speed!
Check out the men's leaders through that section:



I rode around hoping not to get lapped. I thought about pulling out, but I just wanted to get to the bumps again to see if I could ride them faster! It's hard to end my season at the bottom of a long slide in my performance, but I know it's all about the experience for me and I have a lot of racing ahead in my career. It was absolutely worth coming here to Belgium, even though I didn't perform my best. I hope to return next year with my 'A game.' I love it here, the country is beautiful, the racing is intense.

* * *

Here is my favorite picture I took today. Bart! If only the light were better - the sun is so low at almost 4 pm.

It's hard to explain how many people were at this race!

Jeremy Powers had an awesome race today! He is so strong. Here's a really poor video of him through the bumps (sorry, I was doing my best through hordes of fans):

I have one more full day here. I may do the Begijnendijk ride for the experience, otherwise certainly I could do without riding tomorrow! Maybe Sven will be there... I heard he joined the ride the other day several kilometers after it passed our house.

Begijnendijk Ride

So I was sitting here at the table, eating my lunch of a ham and brie on fresh bakery whole grain bread and tomato soup with Marscapone cheese, when Mark alerted me that the Begijnendijk group ride would be coming by momentarily. I dropped my sandwich, grabbed my camera, and ran to the door. This local ride passes our house on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The clip is actually only of half the group. There are two groups of 50 riders each, and the second group followed a minute after (but I had returned to my sandwich).



This is just a typical group ride here. On the way home from a trip to a bike shop this morning, we saw a group ride of about 25 older people, not racers, just normal people, out together on their cruisers enjoying the day. I love this country!