Tuesday, May 26, 2009

catchup

After France I rested a few days and raced again at the GP Impanis against all the top Belgian teams Thursday. The race went ok, it was a tough day and I finished in the peleton well behind the sprinters. I was able to be aggressive and mix it up a bit but it didn't come to much.

Saturday I raced again near the house, I was in the group of 50 or so that was left with 35ish K to go and feeling good, unfortunately I broke the cleat in my shoe and didn't factor in the finale. I also came down with a little bit of a cold so I skipped the race I was scheduled for Sunday.

After GP Impanis I headed back to Izegem for a few days, but today I returned to luxembourg. Six of us are here training until Monday when we leave for Volta Tarragona. It's a 5-day, six-stage race in Spain that I'm really excited for. It has some tough climbs and even an uphill TT. I'm really excited for the race and also to visit a country I haven't been to before. From Spain I'll head back to Izegem for a bit.

Monday, May 18, 2009

more bike racing

raced in france this weekend. Saturday went alright. Pure 160k crosswind day. I got caught at the back a few times and generally made the race way harder than it had to be. The race ended up coming apart, a few groups got up the road and then I made it into a group with 35k or so to go that held off the peleton. Not a huge result but decent for me on a day and courrse that didn't suit me at all.

Sunday was a hilly, technical 100k road race that started off at warp speed. I got a good start and was fine until about 5k when Cole House flatted so I gave him my wheel. The team cars were way back due to the small roads and the huge number of flats so getting back on wasn't gonna happen. Surfed the caravan for awhile and ended up riding in outside time cut.

can't wait to race again

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

luxembourg....

is incredible. can't wait to get some pictures from riding. some nice weather would be a nice bonus too.

The town of Wiltz, about 20k from where we are staying.





Right outside our door.


Monday, May 11, 2009

hosingen

Race Sunday-blah. Good legs but it doesn't matter if you hit a climb at the back and the split happens there. All things I know, but I need to re-find the euro peleton skills. That has always been far more difficult for me than just having horsepower. Decent re-introduction to euro racing and I've got plenty of races to go.

Now I'm in hosingen, Luxembourg. It's raining at the moment but other than that I can't complain, it's a beautiful area and the training looks amazing. Recovery day today so I'm considering going for a short walk (can't wear out the cycling legs) to check out the countryside here.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

some pitchas

Izegem
coffee stop in Kortrijk

More Izegem


New National Team Jerseys




Tuesday, May 5, 2009

in the belge

I'm back in Izegem. Going through the normal parts of settling in over here, jet lag and getting the bike dialed in and figuring out where in the world I'm going. I race a kermesse Friday nearby, then Sunday I do a big 1 day race in the really hilly part of Belgium. I'm pretty excited for that. After that, I head down to luxembourg where they've rented us for a house for awhile since some juniors and girls are coming over and the house isn't big enough for everyone. I'm not complaining, I here luxembourg is beautiful and the training is great so I'm excited. Got plenty more races coming up after Sunday but I'll let you know what they are when I'm sure of the schedule. got a camera and I'll try and get some pictures up soon.