7/26/09 - Race 9 and more!: Ronde Vlaams-Brabant Stage 5, 145 km

I am pretty bored of telling the same old story and I imagine it would get stale to read if anyone has actually been drudging through all the blah, blah, blah about this race. The hyper-condensed version goes like this: front, cover, cover, cover, front, cover, cover, GPM (shit), feed, front, cover, cover, GPM (shit), froooooooooont, feed, front, cover, feed, front, catch the break, full gas, race over. Phew! Glad that’s over. (As a side-note, I finished 133 out of 140 finishers and 200 starters, 15 minutes back. There was really never any motivation to race for a high place for myself once I lost 10 minutes on the first stage in calculated time once I got pulled in the local circuits. But, humbling nonetheless).

Instead of the detail I wanted to write a little about the last week from a couple days out. First off, the support has been phenomenal. Every morning breakfast was provided for us at 8:30 am, then it was off to the races. The bikes were already packed into the team van, bottles prepped (water or mix), bars rationed, Cokes at-the-ready, recovery shakes and protein bars standing by. At the race the staff unpacked bikes, pumped tires, laid out chairs and race bags. Then, before the start, a quick pre-race massage from the soigneur, bottles divied up, and extra layers shed at the line.

During the race, the support car was in the caravan, driven by our director, with spare bikes on top and a mechanic in the back seat ready for anything (he wasn’t needed much, fortunately - two flats in over 3000 combined km - not bad!). In the feedzone we always had two people, one with mix (and Coke on the last feed) and one with water.

After the race more Coke, then some protein bars/shakes. All our dirty clothes were taken in a laundry bag to be readied for the next day. Then each rider gets little recovery “sandwiches”: two hot-dog buns - one with jam and one with jam and cheese. At first they were a bit revolting, but they actually really hit the spot! Plenty of water was doled out for the drive home and the staff packed all the bikes and bags back in the van.

Back at the house, the mechanic washed and tuned all our bikes, taking special requests for any focused service on malfunctioning parts. (This guy, Jaak, was awesome. He works for Quick-Step as one of their mechanics and he has his shit down. He comes with a little kit with his toolbox, lube, degreaser, and black, Specialized jumpsuit. He cleans a bike to perfection in under five minutes and puts on new tires in a snap. It was awesome to watch - a true professional). Meanwhile, the staff unpacked all the stuff while riders showered, then it was time for a 20 minute massage - a beautiful thing after 100 miles and 100 miles on tap for tomorrow.

Jaak, or mechanic for the week

Then, it was off to a nice restaurant for dinner, where the friendly chef made us basically bottomless plates of spaghetti, rice, chicken, fish, and all other sorts of goodies. When we got back it was straight to bed for us, but the hard-working staff packed bikes and readied bottles for the next day. The race was hard for us, but probably almost as demanding on the staff - only three people! A huge thanks goes to Bernard (director) and Ann (his wife), as well as Noel! It was really amazing to see what a huge difference that level of support makes when it comes to a stage race like that.

In five days I rode about 400 miles and 17 hours. It was a blur of ride, eat sleep, eat, repeat like I have never experienced before. You really don’t get to do races like this back home. Most stage races are only four days long and include at least one crit and one TT, which means at most two road stages of 60-100 miles apiece. These stage races can be very hard, no doubt, but it’s really a different kind of race when each day is over 90 miles long. Really a blast to be a part of.

In retrospect, probably the biggest thing I learned in that crash course in Belgian UCI racing is how mental a game it is. Obviously there are huge physical demands, but past a certain threshold of base fitness and endurance, it is really a mental game. I think it all comes down to two things: focus and willpower.

In order to stay position well, you have to really be 100 percent present 100 percent of the time. As Aaron put it, “It’s like meditation - on a bike,” with the subtext being that you are suffering like hell and risking your life in tight corners and at very high speeds. But he is right. Positioning is completely about focus… Which is great, because it has given me a new seed to start meditating with again. I really believe that meditation could be a hugely important type of training for these races. It is funny to think of racing back home, because of how little I was aware of focus as an essential quality of bike racing. In the States, strength alone can take you much further, I think (although definitely not “all the way”). Out here, if you lose focus, you’re fucked, so it’s a trial-by-fire and you have to learn quickly and adapt. I think that one lesson alone could have taken me years more to learn racing at home. Hopefully there will be more like it!

The second part is definitely the ability to suffer. Even the early move here goes once everyone has been on the rivet for a little while. There is no such thing as a small group just rolling off the front and then they are gone for most of the day. To get away at all, you have to pound people into submission and be ahead of them when they decide to submit and the elastic snaps. But to do that you have to pull yourself inside out. It doesn’t really seem like it happens any other way… And I haven’t even seen, really, what it takes to win a race out here. But I imagine it’s a double-dose of the same.

Appropriately-sentimental picture...The sky in Brugge the day after Stage 5.

The next race is a couple days off and for now it is complete recovery mode. I am really excited to keep the lessons coming! Hopefully, I’ll have more interesting stories and lessons to share soon.

7/25/09 - Race 8: Ronde Vlaams-Brabant Stage 4, 158 km

Like most mind-blowing, life-altering, “AHA!” realizations I have had in my life, the surfing success I had in stage two was fleeting. On tap for stage four was 158 kilometers broken into three loops of 45 kilometers, followed by two 12 kilometer circuits. The course featured three GPM’s at 14, 19 and 32 kilometers through each lap. Fortunately today my life at the head of the race was not over on the first GPM, probably thanks to its late arrival at kilometer 14 instead of 13…

We came into the race with four of six riders left in the race, two of which were top 30 on GC, with a good chance at cracking the top 10 if the right break got away. The plan was to ride together at the front and try and get someone in the break, hopefully one of our GC guys.

Da bikes. Only 3/6 guys left... My new ride (#100) is in the foreground.

I started in the front row, which was a really nice change of pace. Immediately I covered every attack that went, basically keeping a really high speed jumping from one wheel to the next as guys tried to establish moves. It was actually remarkably comfortable to do - much easier than being a little further back in the bunch and fighting for position. Soon we turned down a one-lane road and things were single-file and really fast, but nothing was getting away. A few km and several turns later, we were on a wide-open road with a strong headwind so there was less incentive to be at the front and the pack swelled… And it was then that my moment of pack-surfing glory came to a screeching halt.

At kilometer 10 I got caught behind a big swarm on my left, but immediately tried to work my way to the outside to keep moving up. Unfortunately, the pace had slackened considerably and rather than a pointy peloton the front was flat, straight across the road, making it very difficult to move up.

The first GPM came and went with the pack stringing out quite a bit, which left me way back in the bunch. Out here third or fourth row when things are chill means easily 50th wheel once it is strung out. It was lightning fast up through to the second GPM 5 km later. And that’s where I got into some trouble! The second GPM was about 600 meters long at 15+ percent gradient, not my style at all. I need a longer, shallower ramp. I lost a lot of spots.

Not your average parking lot

By the start of the second big lap I was back at the front - and to my surprise a break had not formed yet. I threw myself back into the fray, covering every move I could. It was shocking to realize that this pace and aggression had been kept up for 50 km and counting!

Still, no moves got anywhere, and it was déjà vu yet again when I didn’t have the legs to stay up front on the first GPM on the second lap. I was in horrible position after that - just in time! Descent, turn, drill it, crosswind, still drilling it, turn, full-gas, tailwind (actually incredibly hard as gaps are nearly impossible to close), turn, crosswind, still full-throttle, turn, slight uphill, turn, whoa! Wall straight in front of me and I was going backwards! I came loose from the back of the peloton.

With a teammate and about 10 other dudes, we were able to chase back onto the peloton in about five kilometers. It was a hard chase through a heavy crosswind and we were picking up stragglers every step of the way, but being passed by cars from the caravan at the same time. Unfortunately, the caravan cars were punching it pretty hard to get back up to the field, so there was no drafting at that point… Once we got through the crosswind it seemed like the pack slowed a bit and we worked our way up through the caravan and back onto the tail of the field. A break had finally gotten away.

The last big lap was quite mellow as teams with GC hopefuls did some solid work on the front to keep the break in check. That meant the last lap was easier - and I was quite grateful. I really went into pure survival mode just to make sure I finished! I came to the front of the field, at which point I was asked to start working to bring the break back (no radios in Belgian races - my team leader asked me to the old-fashioned way) and even just a handful of kilometers in the rotation at the left me feeling like I was burning the last of my matches.

A tasteful addition to the team van!

Coming into the local laps I was in solid position and felt like at least the finish was in the bag. I drifted back a bit as I got a feed from Noel as a lot of guys were gunning up to the front at that point. There are not really official feed zones here, its pretty much whatever goes - just like the rest of racing in Belgium (hopping sidewalks, using bike paths, cutting through gas stations, etc).

The last 30 minutes of the race were at 50 kph and so I was OK with coming in at the back of the bunch and just focusing on the next day. I guess I kinda wussed out. I really should have gotten back to the front and done everything I could. I messed up. With 10 km to go I am in the last 20 wheels of about 120 guys, just chilling. I didn’t really realize how easy I was taking it, because my HR in my file was below endurance. My director could see me from the caravan, so here comes up to the back of the strung-out peloton honking his horn and shouting at me, “Get you fuckin’ ass back up there, man! You’re sleeping back here! Move up NOW!” I got my ass up there… Out of sheer terror!

I was amazed at how much I had zoned out under the excuse that I was “saving for tomorrow.” It seemed reasonable to me, but that’s mostly because I was tired and sore. Anyways, I flew up to the front, getting into the top 30 wheels in less than two kilometers. I was floored by how easy it was. But it wasn’t so easy at the front! Coming up the side of the peloton felt much more like sticking my head out the window of a moving car… The last five km were at 50 kph through a headwind and it was mayhem. People were taking crazy risks to sprint for 18th place. It was pretty nuts. In the end I just tried to stay out of trouble, but it was good to see the field sprint take shape. It is a game of positioning out there, 100 percent.

I felt like shit at the finish (in a couple ways). We lost some time and a couple spots on GC, which everyone was pretty bummed about. My director was in a terrible mood. He was especially angry at me, having upgraded me to my second new bike in as many days - this time a SRAM Force/S40 equipped Fuji Team Carbon, a really sweet rig - and he made some comment about what-did-I-want-a-golden-bike?

One day left!

7/24/09 - Race 7: Ronde Vlaams-Brabant Stage 3, 11 km

Not a whole lot to report today… A nice break for sure! It was a fun little time trial, just under 11 km long. Got on my TT bike out here for the first time ever on the trainer an hour before my start. Needless to say I could have used a little extra time to get accustomed to the setup. But that’s kind of how it goes out here - you get what you need, everything is taken care of… but like everything else in cycling, timeliness is a rare bonus.

Warming up with Will Tehan

The course was super windy and dry, thankfully, but I was blown around quite a bit in the first kilometers and big, sweeping farm roads. The race was basically flat until the last 2 kilometers, which very gradually began to point upwards. By 500 meters to go, the pitch was quite steep, easily six or seven percent gradient. The course was moderately technical, with eight turns, two of which were chicanes. Yet another reason to have had a bit more practice on the bike!

Ben Juzwin, 20th overall, warms up under the super-pro tent-extension

I had a good go. I felt very satisfied with my effort. I was a bit over a minute down on the winner, though not sure about my exact time or place - under 16 minutes and somewhere in the middle of the pack. Our two GC leaders both placed in the top 50, one in the top 20, with both in the top 25 overall after the stage. We have a lot to ride for over the next couple days, should be fun! Tomorrow and Sunday I will race for a stage result, so hopefully I will have an interesting report to go with it!

Job done, the TT bikes get to rest

And... A couple more pics just for fun... Didn't get nearly as geeky as I meant to, but I tried with the one below.

Rebranded Zipp

Wheels and bottles

7/23/09 - Race 6: Ronde Vlaams-Brabant Stage 2, 145 km

Before I jump into today's race, I thought some of you might appreciate a picture of our soigneur, Noel, whom I mentioned yesterday... A gentle giant indeed:

Noel (L) and Ben Juzwin

The guy is awesome and incredibly comfortable in his own skin. And I must admit, there was something strangely comforting about his large belly holding my feet in place for the massage.

Anyways, the race today was much hillier than yesterday, with four GPM's and four unrated climbs for each lap of 36 kilometers. Much hillier and much, much wetter.

Okay, so its just a wall, not a road, but you get the point!

Not what I wanted to see in the team van on the way to the start.

The race started as basically a carbon copy of yesterday. By kilometer five I was off the front in a small group that was quickly brought back, but just as quickly I was off with another group. Things reformed a few times, but by kilometer 12 I was just being brought back into the fold. I should have remembered that kilometer 13 means GPM - just like last time - but I didn’t. Unlucky #13. I had a one of those “it seemed like a good idea at the time…” moments and attacked since the pack hadn’t completely closed. I went solo hoping to be on the right side of the split that seemed imminent. But, as luck would have it, I took a right-hander and started to motor with what gap I had and looked up to see a steep SOB of a climb looming. It would not have been a big issue if I hadn’t been riding hard for 20 minutes already… I got swallowed up quickly. I would have been spat out, too, if it weren’t for the fact that there are 200 dudes in the pack! I lost a ton of spots, probably 100 before I could hold my position. Deja vu.

From that point on I worked my way steadily back to the front. I got back well after the move of the day had made tracks, around 35 km into the race. The next hour of the race was relatively easy. I had a pretty major break-through in really learning to surf the front of the race and conserve energy. For the next 65 minutes the average speed was 27 mph and my average HR was 163 - for me that is fairly low, just above endurance - over some steep hills, too! I really found a great zone to work in. Basically start in a good position, around 10-20 wheels back and constantly be moving to the outside and hop in the moves going up the side of the pointy peloton. It was really efficient. Sometimes you have to break to find a line to the outside, but you need to get out there or else you are boxed in and moving backwards.

The thought of the day comes courtesy of my friend Aaron Pool, a JBCA veteran. “You have to be pushing forward all the time.” Now, I have heard “if you’re not moving up you’re moving back” and all that jazz as much as the next guy, but for some reason these words just crystallized something for me. I found the nerve to shoot small gaps and really assert myself in a tight peloton - what a great feeling! Not to be too dramatic but there was something very liberating that happened out there on the road today. Definitely my first “AHA” moment over here.

With 50 kilometers to go I was still sitting pretty in the top 15 wheels when some attacks started to fly - pretty heavy attacks. I covered them and joined a group of eight riders with a gap over the field. We stayed away for a bit, but didn’t succeed in getting anywhere. But after a flurry of shots and a couple hours of high pace, it seemed like the moment for a split. It was status quo through the middle of the last lap and with about 20 km to go the race was really heating up. I was starting to feel pretty shot after my early efforts. I used my last bullet to move my team leader up from about 60th wheel to the front of the group before the second to last GPM. Great timing for him, not so much for me. After the GPM I was near the back of about 100 dudes, and I popped off from there at 5 km to go over the next hill… Job done!

I used my big ring for the entire race, which in retrospect seems like a mistake. If you shift down I things feel a bit harder and like the other guys are riding much stronger. It’s more comfortable to just muscle over. But at kilometer 140 it is so much better to be using your big-gear-pushing muscles to make the selection of the day… Even if it means you feel like you don’t have the gas earlier in the race. A tactic for another day!

Tomorrow is an 11 km TT. Not the typical US out-and-back. This stuff is technical over here. Should be new and fun! Maybe some geek pics?

7/22/09 - Race 5: Ronde Vlaams-Brabant Stage 1, 145 km

Team bikes

My first Belgian UCI stage race! So, I found out at the last minute that I was going to be going (7 am before a 1:30 pm start), which meant I came with a little less of a mental edge than I might like. But I was really glad to be there. The race is five days long, four road stages of 140-160 km apiece on rollers and power climbs, split in the middle by an 11-kilometer time trial. There were 200 starters.

Main sponsor's banner

One of the cars from the caravan in front of the race - think a mini-parade.

Another caravan car

The race today was 145 kilometers and designed to be a stage for the sprinters. There were three large loops of 35 km each before we went into town for five local laps of 8.5 km apiece. The large loop featured two GPM’s (King of the Mountains competition points sprints) at 13.5 km and 25 km.

The guys pinning up before a pre-race chat.

I was in a mix of moves for a bit, but nothing really got too far away. I bridged to a promising looking group as it was forming at about 10 km and we stayed away for a couple minutes, getting caught just as we hit the bottom of the first GPM. The hill wasn’t incredibly steep, but it seemed like everyone wanted points. And I was at my limit. I gave up about 50 spots on the climb, knowing full well that each wheel that past me was one I would have to pass back ASAP. I took a few minutes to recover, using the time to try and pick-off spots where I could. I was able to get back to the front and burnt some more matches in moves that didn’t get anywhere. And that is about when we reached the next GPM, which was just as miserable as the first!

The move of the day was gone at that point, so I just decided to shut it down and conserve. It was hot today, 29 degrees Celsius (so, like… 85 F?) and I lost a bottle on a short cobble section at the start of the second lap… To cut straight to the chase, I never saw the front of the race again. I did my best to hydrate and refuel, but didn’t have great luck with feeds. I made it through to the local laps on three bottles and was dying to get a feed on the local circuit. Our guys were not there yet! In the process though I stayed to the right to try to get a feed and ended up all the way at the back. I made it through the first local lap fine, moving back up the whole way, but had to repeat the process on the second lap. I did get the feed, but it left me in horrible position. I got stuck behind a big split and that was it. “Grupetto!” and we just cruised in, getting pulled with 20 km to go. I think I should get to start no problem tomorrow… But we’ll see!

In any event, I just got a wonderful post-race massage from Noel, quite the gentle giant. I could get used to this!

Some post-race shots of me (after wiping gobs of salt from my face) and the rest of the guys...

All I need is some gel in my hair and maybe a little make-up and I would be true Belgian!

Post-race

Canals

Here's a little teaser from my ride this afternoon:

Schipdonkvaart - Zuid (South Schipdonk Canal Rd)

Today I went on a nice steady endurance cruise along for about 85 kilometers. I am probably doing a five-day UCI stage race, Ronde Vlaams Brabant, which starts on Wednesday and runs through Sunday. The plan was for this to be my last real volume for the week after all the intensity I got in last week. Being a city-boy, I am used to a short (or sometimes long) commute to pretty OK riding and usually lots of traffic. Already I am getting spoiled out here. Granted, there is little variation in terrain - most rides are pancake-flat. However, the rides start straight from the door and within minutes you can forget that you are even around any kind of city/town. The roads are so quite and the drivers are so polite!

As I mentioned before, even riding on a busier road there are wonderful accommodations for cyclists. The most common is a bike path that is separated from the road or clearly painted on the side, often in red paint or with red bricks. This makes even the "worst" parts of rides so much more tolerable than back home.

Bike path - clearly marked and amply separated from the road!

The kicker is that not only are these bike paths clearly marked on the sides of roads, but also straight through intersections! Maybe it is the bright red paint, or maybe it's just some sort of European sensibility, but drivers actually take note! When turning right, across a lane - hold your breath - they yield to bikes! Amazing! It actually makes quite a big difference in the quality of life as a cyclist... Or at least quality life on the bike (is there a difference?).

Yes, this bike path was painted straight through an intersection.

But maybe the greatest pleasure of riding in Belgium is to take the canal roads that meander along miles and miles of scenic waterways with no traffic and only a few bikes and pedestrians. And by a few, I mean a few - nothing like the Westside bike path for those that are familiar!

From the house it is only 2 kilometers to the closest canal, which you can cross via drawbridge to get to the city of Brugge.

The drawbridge to Brugge

A little further north you can hook up with a pretty canal called Schipdonkvaart, which you can ride east for miles (or kilometers, whichever your preference). I have a couple more pics of this canal below:

More from the Schipdonkvaart - Zuid

So for the entire ride today, except for maybe four minutes on each end of the ride, I was on quite canal roads like this one. The towering trees keep the road shaded and cool. This is really one of the most enjoyable loops I have been on in a long time, both because of the scenery and the privateness. And, in the event you actually run into someone else using the same road, the custom is to yell "Pas op!" as you approach (Watch out!) and the politely move to the side... "Dank u!" Very civilized! I wish it worked that easily in the city. Usually calling "On your left," or "Heads up" causes them to swerve further in your direction. Anyways, I am sure my little Belgian infatuation will slowly begin to wear off - but for now I am completely smitten!

7/18/09 - Race 4: Gistel Kermis, 112.5 km

The racing is coming fast and furious now. I went to the kermis in Waardamme still feeling trashed from the race on Thursday. My arms still ached, shoulders, and chest were all still aching from yanking on the handlebars during almost three hours of sprints and my abdomen was still quite sore from the wipeout. My legs felt like lead and I went to the race with a little bit of dread, but fully caffeinated, and accompanied by some mates from JBCA (American Trevor Johnson, and Aussies Ben Juzwin, and Will Tehan).

At registration I started to recognize some of the stronger guys and definitely had picked out the teams to watch - an important first step in getting used to the racing over here. The course was super-exposed; the entire lap wound through narrow farm roads with little protection from the wind. There was a lot of wind. The laps were only 3.75 kilometers long. Essentially, the loop was a long triangle. The first long side was a heavy cross-wind, then a short head/cross-wind section, then a heavy tailwind back along the long finishing straight. The wind was vicious.

The race started with the line-up, with people jockeying for position and latecomers snagging prime spots in the front of the peloton and everyone inching up around them. The actual start line was a good 10 meters behind the first riders by the time the race actually began. I was in the second row. I made sure to start in a good spot given the brutal crosswind in the first couple km’s - I wasn’t sure there would even be a full peloton by the time we came through the start finish after one lap!

After how hard the last race was for me, I really wasn’t sure I would be able to finish. I suffered more than I ever have in a bike race on Thursday. I knew I didn’t have the mental/emotional energy to push that deep again only two days later.

Sure enough, there were attacks from the gun, but the racing was a bit anxious as everyone seemed a bit respectful of the course, so the pace was a bit timid. We came through the finish completely strung out at almost 60 km/hr in the tailwind and in true Euro-style jammed on the breaks to about 15 km/hr into turn one. The race became more animated each time through the crosswind with small groups surging forward, but they were reabsorbed through the headwind section.

About five laps in a small group established a bit of a gap on the field, maybe 15 seconds, that held for a little bit. I went with the next move to go - there were about 6 of us - as the pack seemed to be reluctant to chase for whatever reason. We stayed away for a lap, closing on the leaders to about five seconds. On the next lap we were caught by an absolutely decimated peloton that was completely strung out and broken in to several smaller groups. Immediately a counter-attack came past us, then another. I felt like it was a make-or-break moment the race (yes, only about 25 km into the race) and so I tried to go with the second counter-move. My acceleration was somewhat lacking as I was already pretty well on the rivet. I got clear of the field though and tried to power up to the riders bridging. For a bit I closed on them, but then they started to pull away. I looked back to see that the field was a ways back and not chasing hard, so I continued my effort. The bridging riders made it up to the group and so the carrot in front of me was no moving slightly more slowly as the larger group began to get into a rhythm. I knew I had one last chance to bridge.

I didn’t make it. I came within maybe five seconds, but couldn’t close it. I was totally toasted. A group of about 10 riders was trying to bridge behind me and caught me. In short order our group was then caught by the peloton, at which point I searched for a comfortable draft to catch my breath. Reintegrating into a pack is very hard here. You have to immediately start matching accelerations or you open a gap - hard to do when you have gone into the red.

A couple smaller groups escaped during this time, leaving about 30 riders up the road. The selection of the day was done.

The rest of the race was bo-ring. About 30 riders ahead, 30 riders behind, and the rest were dropped. We didn’t really cooperate at all so the race wasn’t about to come back together. With about 18 laps left, there was a crash that split the field. Will and I were ahead of this crash and worked with a group of 10-12 riders to stay clear of the rest, which we did. The only problem was that the leaders were starting to catch up to us on such a short course, so we knew it would only be a matter of time before we got pulled. It was a funny situation - there was no real motivation to work for the group, but nobody knew when the race would end. There were a lot of little attacks and counter-attacks for a few laps as guys gambled, essentially trying to guess the finishing lap.

We got the bell at 13 laps to go to clear the course for the lead group. I attacked through a small gap at the front with 2 km to go and gave it full gas through the crosswind along the gutter. Nobody followed and Will helped disrupt the chase like a champ. I held on to the finish, which was good for 30th place, and 10 Euro! Will took third from the rest of the group for 33rd.

The biggest thing I took from today was confidence in getting a prize as well as being so close to the winning move. And maybe even more important than that I saw that the race at Gistel was an exceptionally hard kermis for various reasons (field, crash, course, etc) and that I won’t have to suffer through living hell each time I do one! Awesome.