Blog
Well there has been plenty going on since my first update...
I have since got the hang of Kermesse racing, best results being 18th and 14th place; we have raced a tour in the Belgian Mountains, Triptyque Ardennais; we have raced two Interclub races, GP De Wilder and GP Moorsele; and I have made the purchase of an SRM training system, all the way from Germany (a 2 hour drive away...).
Racing quite a few Kermesse's has been great in terms of learning the many aspects of bike racing in a relatively short and intense environment, so still having physical benefits for the track racing we will be doing in the USA soon. With the many corners, breakaways, sprint primes, often dodgy roads such as cobbles, pave, concrete slabs etc, all coupled together with the large fields of often very unpredictable Belgy's... All adds up for action packed racing that keeps large crowds in attendance and the riders on their toes! We raced our last one on Sunday, and it was a good way to finish as the weather was nice and I lead out the bunch sprint with no one able to come round me.
Triptyque Ardennais was a 3 day, 4 stage tour which we all started, but only West and Shem managed to finish! The first day went really good for me, as I didn't go into the tour with the best form for climbing hills. I survived all the breaks in the main bunch until the last climb 5km from the finish, so lost 1 minute from the lead time as the 2nd Kiwi across the line. The weather was terrible, I have never had to concentrate so hard in a race. It rained pretty much the whole stage and I wish I had a picture from the finish with us all sitting around absolutely covered in mud. The second day I was caught up in a minor crash and went over the handle bars, no real damage was done, but it was a new experience for me to be chasing back through the following convoy to rejoin the race, and it took a lot out of me. About 30km later at the 100km point the bunch split and I was left in the 2nd half with 50km to go, finishing about 15 minutes down. I spent most of the night after this stage in the loo as I was hit with a dose of Campylobacter which I have put down to being from the spray off the road on the first stage as we road through a lot of farmland. I made an attempt to start the 3rd stage the following day but started going backwards on the first climb so had to shut it down and become support crew for the remaining 3 of our 7 starters still in the challenging race. I somehow got conned into the role of passenger in the BikeNZ follow car for the final stage that afternoon, with Damian behind the wheel, which sure was an experience to say the least...
The Interclubs we raced in were great. Similar in style to Kermesse's, but the fields were bigger than normal with both being around the 200 mark, and all the bigger more heavily funded teams are there with their team buses such as Beveren 2000, which is the feeder team for the Pro-Team Quick Step. The distances are also punched up a bit, the first one, De Wilder, was 170km and Moorsele was 166km.
One of the most important things this trip has brought upon me is the usage of an SRM Training system. It has set me back just over $3000, but training and racing using it has been awesome. It gives you live feedback on your Speed, just like normal bike computers, along with Cadence, Heart Rate, Temperature, Altitude, but most importantly the Power you are putting into the pedals in Watts. This makes training, whether it be out on the road, or on the Erg (windtrainer), so much more productive as you know exactly what it is you are doing. I can then download it into graphs on my laptop and see real progression from training session to session and what is working or not working in terms of making me a more stronger, faster, more efficient and more competitive rider.
Our time in Belgium has almost come to a close, as we fly to Pennsylvannia to begin Track and Criterium racing on Monday which I am really looking forward to. Mischief here has been kept to a relatively low level, but we have had plenty of good times, and I have many stories to I can't wait to share upon my return that just wouldn't be the same over an email. I have attached a few photos to try and add a bit of colour to this essay but if you have read this far well done and I appreciate it!
Next time you here from me I will be out of the 30 degree Belgian Summer and into the 35 degree US summer! I hope you are all enjoying the cold...
Contact me at aaron.gate@gmail.com