I was super-nervous before the race today. I had heard from a lot of different sources how the race would be (hard, etc) and really let it get to my head. It was hard, but rather than take it in stride and race the smartest race I could, I freaked out. I followed an attack in the first 100 meters. Not the worst tactic, actually, but for totally the wrong reasons. It was good to be dictating the race to start rather than having it dictated, but I was burning matches like crazy. Even when we were caught at about 15 km I stayed up at the front and covered a few moves, really digging myself into the red.
Once I settled back into the field I didn’t have the pop left to match accelerations and kept getting gapped and losing spots. Not a bright race for me at all. I think the accelerations are going to be very hard for me to match for 2+ hours, but wasting myself on/off the front isn’t exactly helping the situation. The race gave me a lot of confidence though. I know these guys aren’t out of my league. I am excited for the next one, not scared, which is the biggest accomplishment of the day! Cool tip from Nick Friesen: sprint hard out of the corner - don’t sit until the guy in front of you does.
An interesting tidbit from the day... Registration is held in the back of a smoky bar. Bikes are parked outside, but when you walk in all you see are regulars smoking and drunk, watching sports on TV. Ummm, is this the right place? Walk through to the back and in a tiny little room lit with fluorescent lights there are a bunch of Belgium officials for registration. Weird weird weird. First you have to get a Belgian racing license (5 Euro), then pay to register (8 Euro). After the race you can return your plastic-y number for 5 Euro, so racing is only 3 E/race!
The courses here are pretty cool. A kermis usually (I am told, and it was the case today...) winds through town before heading onto some small 1-lane farm roads before coming back for the finish. Full-closure, of course! Lots of fans on the streets, its just such a cool atmosphere.
That's all for now, more soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment