From Canada to Belgium - with lots of love

In the last weeks I've raced the infamous Paris to Ancaster race in Ontario, Canada held on April

photo courtesy of cxmagazine.com

27^th   followed by the Lotto Cycling Cup Houthalen – a UCI International race in Belgium. 

As for my experiences in Paris to Ancaster, it was simply unreal - an amazing adventure!  Not only did Ellen van Loy and I stay in a gorgeous house located right on the legendary Bruce Trail that’s 930km long, but we got to experience so many other local attractions such as Niagara Falls. By the time it was race day, we were so psyched up and ready to go! 

The competition was incredibly stiff but we held our own. Ellen placed 2^ndand I was 3^rd. Podium baby!  We were beaten by a pro mtb racer with the international LUNA MTB team. Even so, it felt fun to be on the podium again.

To read all about it, you can visit my personal diary on CYCLOCROSS Magazine.  I also got some nice

foto: Jeremy Allen

media coverage from it as well - some in Dutch and some in English.

 

http://www.greatveganathletes.com/content/christine-hits-podium-paris-ancaster#

http://start-box.be/nieuwsp.php?subaction=showfull&id=1398859446&archive&start_from&ucat=29

http://www.cyclo-cross.info/cyclocross/2014/04/27/ellen-van-loy-tweede-in-canadese-parijs-roubaix/

http://www.cxmagazine.com/maghalie-rochette-talks-paris-ancaster-team-offseason

http://www.cxmagazine.com/clark-paris-to-ancaster-maghalie-rochette-takes-womens-win-2014-report-results

http://www.cxmagazine.com/pro-bike-christine-vardaros-stevens-carbon-superprestige-cyclocross-bike

Vardaros en Van Loy gaan leuk avontuur tegemoet

http://start-box.be/nieuwsp.phpsubaction=showfull&id=1398368018&archive=&start_from=&ucat=29&

http://start-box.be/nieuwsp.php?subaction=showfull&id=1398462698&archive=&start_from=&ucat=29&

Next came the Lotto Cycling Cup Houthalen.  As it was an international race i could not ride it as an

individual so I guest rode for Team Isorex - a wonderful team to represent! Against many of the best road cyclists in the world, I thankfully held my own.  I was happy to finish the race considering I’d picked a tough one to begin my road racing season with.  By the end of the 2hr45minute race, we had an average 40kph with 520 altitude meters.
(Photo courtesy of Tom Prenen)
Here are a couple of press/media spots on my race experiences there:

http://start-box.be/nieuwsp.php?subaction=showfull&id=1400359627&archive=&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

http://start-box.be/nieuwsp.php?subaction=showfull&id=1400482963&archive=&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook#.U3sc8k99_mA.twitter

I am now back to more hard training for my upcoming racing block on the road – the exact race schedule is yet to be determined.  I am also putting more time into my writing these days. I just recently took on another freelance writing gig for a new cycling magazine and wrote my first article (all about myself ;-) ) for Vegan Health & Fitness Magazine.

I’m also busy working on my presentations for two upcoming events – International Animal Rights Conference in mid-September located in Luxembourg, and VegFest UK London end of September.

Thanks for reading!