I have a new live-in boyfriend - he's perfect!

He has dirty blond hair and hazel/light brown eyes, is normally taller than I, give me freedom to focus on my bike racing, great listener, doesn't need to ever talk about "the relationship", is perpetually ecstatic, always cheering for me, never makes any unreasonable demands, doesn't take up much room in the bed, looks great in his faded blue jeans and is a champion - albeit former world champ! His name is Tom Boonen. I got him from a newsstand.

They were going to throw him out after the Het Laatste Nieuws free t-shirt promotion ended. So I did what any gal living on her own with no time to socialize would do, I folded him up and took him home. He is wearing a blue pinstripe button-down business shirt and a thick blue and white tie, both covered up with a bright blue Tom Boonen t-shirt (a double white line circle with a white cyclist image in the middle. On the outside of the circle is his name.) And, yes, he is wearing faded jeans. The best part of the cardboard boonen is his pose. His hands are over his head in an excited cheering pose, bent at the knees, jaw wide open, while holding a sign in one hand that reads, "Gratis T-shirt Tom Boonen vanaf 13 Maart Het Laatste Nieuws." I will try to take a picture of him sitting on my sofa. He sits well since his body folds is at his waist.

My former teammmate at lotto-belisol dated Tom for five years. She would laugh if she knew i had my very own Tom. Maybe i will invite her over and have tom sitting at the table. hahaha. or hihihi as they write in Belgium (flemish part anyway.)

Oh and regarding the real reason i live so far from home in sunny California, I did one race yesterday - Scheldecross UCI in Antwerpen, Belgium. I was sure I'd be on the podium before the start even though it was a star-studded field. I promised myself a 3rd place spot.

Within a minute of the start, I was in third chasing Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn and Marianne Vos. We had a small gap on the chasers. But as i was smelling the flowers, I smacked one of those immovable poles at full tilt and tore off my front brake - the metal OF THE BRAKE ARM literally tore in half! The EASTON FORK WAS FINE!!! What a TOUGH FORK to sustain that kind of abuse and come out in one piece!! I didn't notice straight away that i had no brake at all. I thought it was just a little tweaked. So i brought it into the pit and grabbed my other bike which was equipped with a front training wheel pumped at about 60psi (4 bar) since most of my tubular wheels are flat and currently being re-glued AND I got yet another flat ON THE WAY to the start line. The tire pressure turned the already slippery wet, muddy grassy technical course into an ice skating rink!

Anyway, on this funky wheeled bike, i re-passed veerle ingels who passed me on the crash. BUT thinking my other bike was ready, i flew into the pit only to have to take a bike with no front brake. Veerle re-passed me while i was babying all the turns and fretting over my handicap-in-my-mind! Insult to injury, i was passed again five seconds from the finish line, only finishing in 5th. The smell of flowers faded. BUT the good news is i'm feeling physically good and motivated for the Nommay World Cup this weekend in France. I collect all my tubulars saturday. yipee!!!

THanks for reading.
Groetjes,
Christine (aka pindanooten, maar soms pindakaas)