Since arriving back to Belgium, I have steadily worked myself back into the routine of waking every morning, training or racing and spending the remainder of the day recovering or working on my column in the paper. Back living with my house mates having the same old crack is priceless, having no English channels on our T.V and with the music channels playing Katy Perry and snoop dog a thousand times a day they to offer very little entertainment. But at the end of the day I’m not here for entertainment, I’m here to better my cycling ability and this can only be done by intelligent training, adequate recovery and challenging races one of which I experienced in full last weekend.
Ronde Van Antwerp (Tour of Antwerp) is a 4 day stage race, stage 1 is 140km, stage 2 is 120km, stage 3 is 170km and stage 4 is 188km. The racing was fast and aggressive, I rode well on stage 1 finish in the bunch and managing to avoid the abundance of crashes littering the roads with mangled bikes and bodies, overall the team performed great with all 6 of us finishing in the main peloton.
Stage 2 was a 4 lap race of 120km in total, the many bends and the pouring rain made for treacherous riding and I was to experience this first hand as we raced through a wooded section on slippery cobbles coated in rotting leaves. 2 laps in I came a cropper landing on my arse sustaining no injuries but unfortunately ending up out the back of the peloton, behind the team car I did my best to make contact with the bunch once again, hugging the rear bumper of the car I attained speeds of up to 100km/h but it was all in vain as there was too much ground to make up and as I tried my best to reach the peloton the extreme wind and wet roads succeeded in stopping me. I finished 7 minutes down which was very demoralising but it’s part of racing, you have you good days and your bad days.
Stage 3 was a 170km haul of 4 X 42.5km loops, the pace was frantic and with the large open roads the peloton was exposed to savage winds leaving it strung out in 1 long line as riders fought for cover, my team mate Dan Patten made his way into the break of the day which went from the gun but unfortunately crashed on a sharp bend, he was picked up by the peloton and hung in strong till the finish. Once again the team stood up to the challenge and as the miles ticked by they seemed to have little or no impact on us as we rode strongly at the head of the peloton. We all finished in the main bunch happy with our rides.
Stage 4 was a long haul of 188 km, I was nervous the night before thinking of what await me on the road tomorrow, I had heard rumours of heavy rain and savage winds which would leave the race in ribbons. But I was confident that I had the form needed to complete the race. With the drop of the flag the heat was on from the gun strung out on the long open stretches, riders were breaking down left right and centre as the effects of the last 3 days were taking their toll upon their legs. With each of the passing lap and as those up front turned on the gas even more; I could feel my own legs suffering under the intensity. As splits occurred ahead of me on a cobble section I was left helpless to close them, in the stormy weather and plummeting temperatures I could do no more, my group rolled in to the finish are only to be pulled out a lap early. When I look back on the situation it is easy to say I should have been up the front or I should have tried harder, but at the time you have to accept what happens and hopefully taking something away from it that will benefit you next time. In regards to recovering during the stages, the fact that I had my Kenetica 100% recovery at my disposal and was also using my roller massager on my legs in the evening everything went to plan. check out the video blog below were I give a little more detail on the products.
But now with Antwerp behind me and the end of the season a little over a month away I can focus on finish strong and strive my best to achieve that illusive Belgian result that I so deeply crave.
Ronde Van Antwerp (Tour of Antwerp) is a 4 day stage race, stage 1 is 140km, stage 2 is 120km, stage 3 is 170km and stage 4 is 188km. The racing was fast and aggressive, I rode well on stage 1 finish in the bunch and managing to avoid the abundance of crashes littering the roads with mangled bikes and bodies, overall the team performed great with all 6 of us finishing in the main peloton.
Stage 2 was a 4 lap race of 120km in total, the many bends and the pouring rain made for treacherous riding and I was to experience this first hand as we raced through a wooded section on slippery cobbles coated in rotting leaves. 2 laps in I came a cropper landing on my arse sustaining no injuries but unfortunately ending up out the back of the peloton, behind the team car I did my best to make contact with the bunch once again, hugging the rear bumper of the car I attained speeds of up to 100km/h but it was all in vain as there was too much ground to make up and as I tried my best to reach the peloton the extreme wind and wet roads succeeded in stopping me. I finished 7 minutes down which was very demoralising but it’s part of racing, you have you good days and your bad days.
Stage 3 was a 170km haul of 4 X 42.5km loops, the pace was frantic and with the large open roads the peloton was exposed to savage winds leaving it strung out in 1 long line as riders fought for cover, my team mate Dan Patten made his way into the break of the day which went from the gun but unfortunately crashed on a sharp bend, he was picked up by the peloton and hung in strong till the finish. Once again the team stood up to the challenge and as the miles ticked by they seemed to have little or no impact on us as we rode strongly at the head of the peloton. We all finished in the main bunch happy with our rides.
Stage 4 was a long haul of 188 km, I was nervous the night before thinking of what await me on the road tomorrow, I had heard rumours of heavy rain and savage winds which would leave the race in ribbons. But I was confident that I had the form needed to complete the race. With the drop of the flag the heat was on from the gun strung out on the long open stretches, riders were breaking down left right and centre as the effects of the last 3 days were taking their toll upon their legs. With each of the passing lap and as those up front turned on the gas even more; I could feel my own legs suffering under the intensity. As splits occurred ahead of me on a cobble section I was left helpless to close them, in the stormy weather and plummeting temperatures I could do no more, my group rolled in to the finish are only to be pulled out a lap early. When I look back on the situation it is easy to say I should have been up the front or I should have tried harder, but at the time you have to accept what happens and hopefully taking something away from it that will benefit you next time. In regards to recovering during the stages, the fact that I had my Kenetica 100% recovery at my disposal and was also using my roller massager on my legs in the evening everything went to plan. check out the video blog below were I give a little more detail on the products.
But now with Antwerp behind me and the end of the season a little over a month away I can focus on finish strong and strive my best to achieve that illusive Belgian result that I so deeply crave.
But right now I'm just back from a training ride with Dan Patten & Arne Opsomer, we went for a nice steady cruise to Ronse which is the town that the pro tour event The Eneco Tour will be starting and finishing at. Whilst there we visited a friend of ours Wouter Mariesse who gave us some cola and then made us buy him coffee. It also gave me a good opportunity to test out my new wheel set Fulcrum 5's, which performed excellent but for the fact that the entire cassette fell off down the road.
Also my nutritional sponsor James Geraghty of Molloys lifestyle Pharmacies and Healthfood stores and Paul Dunne of Ballina dental practice have also began a blog on there quest to complete and Iron Man in 2011, more details to come but it may be to some of your liking.
Also check out my most recent Video Post.
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