CYCLOCROSS Magazine GETS Interviewed!

In The Crosshairs, a website created for ALL levels of cyclocross riders and racers, recently interviewed Andrew Yee, publisher of the World's ONLY Cyclocross Magazine to give us a behind-the-scenes look at how a magazine comes about. And in the process, we get to read all about the guy who made it happen. Nice interview!

CLICK HERE to read it.

Tour de France Belgian Newspaper Highlights

"Fireworks canceled" The cartoon was in response to the fireworks expected in the high mountains, only for the top GC's to conservatively hold their places in the GC line.

Top story: Lance Armstrong is quoted as saying that doping control at

6am is not humane. He claims it was the French Anti-doping agency's political game.

The king Alberto cartoon is pretty self

explanatory. I started to like Contador until his final podium appearance when he completely DID NOT thank his team and support crew for getting him onto the podium.

And i wonder who the "lucky guy" is who ends up buying lance's bike for €700,000. Crazy.

"Last hope for the boss." The livestrong anklebands was a nice touch. My favorite of all the Tour titles in the newspaper was "'The BOSS is BOOS'" which means "The boss is angry". I love how creative the Belgians are with their wordplay. Belgians seem to play with words much more than americans.

"Armstrong doesn't give up 2nd place" - he surely did fight, or rather struggle, for it too. He is definitely not the Armstrong of years past. hmmm......

Speaking of...there are two new drugs on the market. I am particularly impressed with the second one called Aicar. They tested it on runners and apparently if you take it for four weeks - WITHOUT exercising - you can run Apparently, if you take the pills for one month WITHOUT exercise, at the end of the month you can run 23% longer than four weeks ago and have 44% more endurance - according to studies done on lab mice in La Jolla, California. The article went on to say that to have better condition without exercising is everyone's sexual fantasy, surely that of the topsporters. The drug is not yet on the market so dont bother looking for it in your nearest pharmacy. Personally, i just dont see how something so effective in cheating a daily regimen of a healthful diet and exercise can be good for you.

In many of the stages, if you look just behind sprinter Mark Cavendish who won every "sprinter" stage and even some non-sprinter stages, you'd see America's Tyler Farrar, or should i say America's AND Belgium's. The Belgians have readily accepted Gent-based Farrar as one of their own. His fluency in Flemish really won them over! The title of this profile article says, " Normally i'd be at the Gent festival now." He does say later on in the article that "The Tour is also not bad."

What i admire most about his Flemish is his confidence to talk without stressing over words he doesnt know or over making mistakes. When he doesnt know a word, he just plugs in the english equivalent and keeps on going! Excellent!!!

Every day while the Tour was going on, the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad was running the daily stories from the 1969 Tour de France. This story is titled, "Where is the tour winner?" Apparently Eddy Merckx was left behind at the post-Tour party in Paris. His team forgot him. They finally found him after an hour of searching.

Next are photos of post-tour crits (my races as well as the boys) and even one of Sven Nys. Stay tuned...

Gossip from Belgium AND birthday party photos

Tommeke, Tommeke, Tommeke...what to do with Tommeke. I bet this is what Quick-Step Team Manager Patrick Lefevere is thinking right about now.

After a tour stage a few days ago, a reporter told Boonen that Lefevere said he is not good enough. Boonen replied, "Has Lefevere said that I am not good enough? Then he may come sprint himself." ("Heeft Lefevere gezegd dat ik niet goed genoeg ben? Dan mag hij zelf eens komen sprinten.") In response to this, Lefevre responded, "When i get paid a salary of Boonen, i would go there and sprint myself!"

I wonder what team he will ride for in 2010. He is Belgian National Champion, so surely there will be lots of offers coming in. Heck, if i had a team i would hire him myself! He's a colorful rider who can produce - just three months ago i clearly remember his hands in the air in the Roubaix track. He also won Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and a stage in Tour of Qatar.

On the cyclo-cross side, Bart Wellens is STILL trying to shake his jokester playboy reputation he acquired many years ago. While guest-hosting one of the Tour's post-stage discussions on TV, Wellens assured his fans that he is working extremely hard for the upcoming season, taking it very seriously. Everything he does is for cyclocross. All he wants now is for his fans to acknowledge his hard work and drop his old image once and for all.

Regarding the Tour, while watching Saturday's stage on Belgian TV, the race announcers were very confused by Garmin's move to the front of the peloton n the last 15km of the stage. They finally decided that there was no reason for them to be up at the front. Was it an American thing? Did they not want Hincapie to take yellow? i suppose only the Garmins know the answer.

"The Boss is boos" (angry in dutch) - was the title of the sports section of the newspaper a bit ago. I can say it clearly applies to Sunday's stage as well. If Armstrong really had the legs, he would have gone with Andy Schleck or the handful of other guys that jumped away from him after Contador was long gone. I wish Armstrong would have given permission to Andreas Kloden to ride his own race so he could have at least improved a bit on his GC ranking. I was glad to see Armstrong acknowledge Contador's supreme prowess. Armstrong may not be the strongest guy in the race but he did a very good job of bringing his fitness back up to the highest level after so many years off.

On a completely different topic, yesterday was my birthday. Here are photos from my birthday dinner at Jonas' parents house. His mom made a completely vegan meal. We had stuffed zucchini, salad, rice, champagne, wine and two apple tarts with soy whipped cream and soy ice cream. One of the tarts was made by her and one by me - can you guess who made which? Hint: mine was sugar and fat free.

I'm a Big Garden Now...

Less than a month ago, we planted a garden in the backyard. But shortly after looking at other gardens in the area, i quickly realized that starting most of it from seeds may not work considering everyone else's veggies were as high as an elephant's eye.

Even if we were off the back in planting the garden, it finally GREW. The first two weeks almost nothing happened, but once the rain came it just took off! So far only the radishes are ready but fingers crossed that the rest will be edible before the weather turns for the worse. Here in Belgium you never know when that could happen.

As for my ride today, we went out for an organized bike tour of 125km. I expected the ride to be relatively easy but after the first two kilometers, my hub had other plans. It decided that if i stop pedaling to coast, it will blow up. So the next 123km was constant pedaling. High speed turns were the trickiest. After the ride, my legs were so sore I had to ascend the stairs to the bathroom on hands and knees. Humbling.

Next race is this Wednesday in Arendonk - many towns away. I have a feeling the next days will be easy on the bike so they are well rested to be tortured again.

Thanks for reading!

I am an Official Vegan Voices Around the World

There is a website that lists all influencial people in the Vegan movement and i was just added yesterday! It isn't the same as having a star on the streets of Hollywood for all to walk on but, then again, I'd take being acknowledged for promoting veganism through sport over being acknowledged for my acting skills any day. Heck, I can't even lie well!

If you want to check it out, CLICK HERE and scroll down to the V's by last name.

I may not have won the race, but...

I bet i enjoyed it the most! My last road race was almost one full year ago so naturally I entered this one with much trepidation. After taking many months off of racing and hard riding for therapy and rehabilitation, I had no idea what to expect.

Sure, I'd done the work leading up to this race to be theoretically fit. They say that if you put in the work, results will follow. But does that always pertain to bike racing? Or is bike racing a whole different level of reality... What if you put in the work but you're building on a shoddy "base" or pedaling many hours while seated in a poor bike position? I'd expect in those cases what you'd get is a whole lot of wasted time with no results.

I wish fitness buildup for bike racing was as clean and neat as a mathematical equation. Maybe that is why i've always been into science - did you know i was pre-med at Columbia University? I espoused the career path of becoming a doctor so fully that even my own father couldn't accept that I'd give it all up to be a bike racer.

He finally let go after watching me in a cyclo-cross race in Southampton, NY. I sometimes wonder that if i didn't win the event, if he would have written the bike racing off as a tiny hobby and continued pestering me about my former career path in medicine. I surely dont miss the family reunions where all the little kids - and even the parents - would line up to ask me about their aches, pains and strange symptoms.

But back to the road race, within a few minutes I realized that my months of hard work were thankfully not wasted. I rode easily with the peloton with fingers up my nose - as they say in Belgium - at average speeds of over 40kph and even as high as 57kph. The only time i was at my limit was when i tried to chase down my former Lotto-Belisol teammates Liesbet de Vocht and Kim Schoonbaert. I suffered and failed. But i still enjoyed the moment so much that i started to laugh at myself to think i could bridge to some of the strongest racers in the world - and in my first bike race nonetheless.

When the peloton finally whipped by, it took a little fighting to get my body to lift and match the pace of the peloton. I would like to think nobody could physically see i was struggling since that look would not have gone well with my fancy white SCOTT Addict bike with pink and blue trim and my matching SCOTT Contessa Line outfit - white with silver trim (thanks to Eddie and Dries).

With about four laps to go, fellow cross racer Helen Wyman jumped with one other gal. They stayed away until the end with Helen lifting her arms in glory!

I may have only placed 40th of 78 finishers (I've never been much of a sprinter), but i am truly satisfied - and of course immensely thankful - that it felt easier than i ever imagined it to feel based on previous experiences. For the last two years, it took many races before i could stay with the peloton until the end. And even then i suffered so badly the whole race!

I expect that some of the upcoming races will feel a lot worse than my first one, but i welcome the pain if that is what it takes to be the best cyclocross racer i can be this season!

On a side note, I'd like to thank some my fellow racers for their kindness and support. I even got a few "you're doing great" comments during the race! It was also special to see some friendly faces in the crowd like Ronny, Pannekoek, Jonas - of course, his mom, and the guys from the Zaventem group ride and Old Mans Ride who help me train and came out to specifically cheer for me.

One of the guys from the Old Mans Ride even kept me company - or rather heckled me - at the start line. Since i too am a jokester, i joked back. After two minutes of our playtime, i looked up only to see a few of the racers staring at me. At that moment i realized it was because our conversation was in Flemish and they'd never heard me speak it. I still have a long way to go to semi-master the language but it felt good to be able to understand good heckling when it is aimed at me!

My next race is scheduled for 15 July. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for reading AND thanks to all of you for your support over the years!

photo credit: Ria van Looveren

I Need Your HELP in Winning VegNews Contest

I need your HELP in winning the 2009 Veggie Awards. I have been nominated in two categories:

1. Favorite Athlete (page 5)

2. Favorite Column. (page 6)

As you know, i have worked super hard to earn these nominations and would LOVE the opportunity to be acknowledged for this. The additional exposure can help me to reach even more people with correct information (aka the Truth) on health/nutrition/fitness.

Please take a few seconds to click on this link to vote for me:

CLICK HERE!

You can vote as many times as you want and you DON'T have to fill out any identifying info if you choose not to.

Just go directly to PAGE 5 and PAGE 6 and vote for me in the two categories if you are short on time.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!! It will be very exciting if we can make this happen. I This may just be the first thing I win (outside of a bike race!)

In order for your vote to count, you must vote for at least 50% of the categories. If you need any ideas, here are some of my favorites:

Page 1: Favorite Vegan Cookie: The Inspired Cookie
Page 2: Favorite Energy Bar - PROBAR
Page 3: Favorite Accessory Line - Vegan Queen
Page 4: Favorite Veg Event: Veggie Pride Parade
Page 5: Favorite Athlete: Christine Vardaros
Page 5: Favorite Cookbook Author: Colleen-Patrick Goudreau
Page 5: Favorite Website: CompassionateCooks.com
Page 5: Favorite Veg Forum: Veganbodybuilding.com
Page 5: Favorite Podcast: Vegetarian Food for Thought
Page 6: Favorite Column: VegFitness (Christine Vardaros)

And one more thing - each submission is entered into VegNews Magazine's Grand Prize Drawing to win fabulous prizes. Read below for more details on that.

Welcome to the 2009 Veggie Awards™, the largest survey of its kind in the world. By voting, you and thousands of other VegNews readers will choose today's hottest vegetarian people, products, and places. This annual celebration has become one of the magazine's most anticipated features, with winners announced in the November+December "Best of Vegetarian" holiday edition of VegNews. Need an extra incentive to vote? All submissions will be entered into our Grand Prize Drawing to win insanely fabulous prizes including:
Grand Prize: TROPICAL GETAWAY FOR TWO Experience total tropical bliss on this unforgettable getaway for two. Included is roundtrip airfare courtesy of JetBlue to whisk you away to Deer Run Bed and Breakfast in Key West for a relaxing five-night stay. Spend your days lounging on the beach with a Hit-the-Tropics care package while nibbling on a dozen Coconut Key Lime Cookies from Allison’s Gourmet. Before or after your stay, you’ll be treated to an intimate dinner at Florida’s renowned vegan restaurant, Sublime.
First Prize: HIS & HERS URBAN BAGS Fine-tune your fashion sense with two ultra-chic designer bags by Matt & Nat, full of sophisticated loot for the style-minded guy and gal. “His” holds a signed copy of Skinny Bastard, a LiViTY Fedora hat, and luxurious LUSH shaving cream. “Hers” offers a signed copy of Skinny Bitch, a chic cosmetic case from Micio Mambo, and LUSH’s Dreamwash Shower Smoothie.
Second Prize: VEGAN ICE CREAM STARTER KIT Create the ultimate dairy-free fantasy in the comfort of your home with this stellar starter kit. Salivate over every page of your signed copy of The Vegan Scoop before taking one of the gourmet recipes for a spin in your brand-new Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. Dole out a double scoop in a Daisy Dog Studio ice cream sundae bowl, and top off your masterful creation with a drizzle of Chocoreale sauce, delivered in a trio of mouthwatering flavors. (two winners)
Third Prize: CHOCOLATE SMORGASBORD Indulge in the definitive vegan chocolate goodie box custom designed just for the Veggie Awards by Pangea Vegan Store. Guaranteed to fulfill your dark-chocolate desires, chocolate-covered sandwich crèmes, rich chocolate candy bars, chocolate peanut butter cups, rocky road bark, chocolate-dipped pretzels, and white-chocolate chips make for one decadent experience. (three winners)
Plus, Weekly Giveaways! PIZZA KITS Turn your kitchen into a pie-tossing pizzeria with Follow Your Heart’s Pizza Kit. Included are one perfect pizza crust, mouth-watering pizza sauce, and two packages of Vegan Gourmet cheese. Throw on your favorite toppings, bake, and bask in your culinary creation—the ultimate vegan pizza. (four winners)
The Details: Ballots must include identifying information and be at least 50% complete to qualify for prizes. Entries must be received between July 1 and July 31, 2009 at midnight. Nominees are based on the companies receiving the most votes in the 2008 Veggie Awards, and we encourage you to submit write-in votes. Happy voting!



http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oes_2f0tloz0fA1jHSyPxMyw_3d_3d

Holy Crap Table !!!!

The dice were not on my side this week. My yahoo account was hijacked and sent "casino" spam to my 935 address book contacts. I am feeling like a big loser at the moment.

What surprises me most about the whole experience was some of the responses i got.

Here's my top 10 countdown:

10. "Always bet on black."

9. "New writing job? Hit me!"

8. "I've been looking for more info about how to work from home and play casino games..."

7. "Could you explain this to me? I could never remember all those situations. (in BlackJack). Are you doing this?"

6. "Yep, you are now a cyclocross goddess *and* a gambling queen! :-)"

5. "diverting from the porn sites - or is this how you afford to visit them?"

4. "I just won three bucks!"

3. "Christine, you moved from Vegan to Vegas apparantly..."

2. "do i get a free cocktail with every visit?"

1. "how fucking sad to get this kinda crap from someone i used to have respect for".

I am so sorry to all of you who received the spam. And thanks a bunch for your understanding and humor.

A Real Belgian Birthday Party

Last Friday night was a late one - till 5am to be exact. It was Jonas' mom's 60th birthday celebration.

The party started with champagne hour in the backyard of the party hall. We were given a choice of champagne, kir royale or some spiked orange juice which they aggressively refilled for a full 1 1/2 hours. The average partygoer probably had about 6-8 glasses before staggering indoors for the formal 5-course sitdown meal. The next hour or so was a bit fuzzy for me - and i only had 2 glasses of champagne! I still dont know how the Belgians drink that much and act completely sober. Maybe after my cycling career, i will investigate!

Jonas' mom, Godelieve, was kind enough to have the caterers make a full vegan meal for us. Of all the courses i was most impressed with the main one. They gave us a vegan meal with the same layout as the meat counterpart but replaced the raw beef with tempeh circles on a flat piece of tough seitan. I didnt even know those products existed in Belgium.

And of all the entertaining events of the evening, I enjoyed most the dancing. Watching Godelieve dance with her husband Juul of 40 years was priceless - especially when he grabbed a quick butt squeeze when he thought nobody was looking. Early in the evening, the DJ played a string of old belgian folk songs. I can only assume that these songs were dated since the older generations took center stage to line-dance.

Later on, the party on the dance floor morphed into full chaos to include chubby checker and saturday night fever moves. Oh wait, that was me. The rest were doing versions of everything from Elvis Presley to hopscotch. As an avid peoplewatcher, i was deleriously enthralled. One of the animated dancers was Mahina, Jonas' cousin's (Phillipe) wife. She just returned from the hospital that afternoon after having a baby and still had the energy to move her booty. Incredible.

Although the party went on until 5am, the truth is that I didnt last that long. I only made it to 2am. I was out-partied by Godelieve's friends and family - all a generation older than I!

Soud of Music in Antwerp Train Station

My mom just sent me this youtube link. Normally I dont care much for videos but this one was special for me.

The video was made in the Antwerpen , Belgium Central (Train) Station on March 23, 2009, with no warning to the passengers passing through the station. At 8:00 am a recording of Julie Andrews singing 'Do, Re, Mi' begins to play on the public address system. As the bemused passengers watch in amazement, some 200 dancers begin to appear from the crowd and station entrances. They created this amazing stunt with just two rehearsals! Enjoy!

Click HERE to view the video.

Thanks mom!

Fantasy Cyclocross and Gardens

I just finished a hard training period and am finally enjoying a relaxing week. It is giving me (and jonas since he does most of my training) some time to catch up on stuff and do little projects and read a lot.

According to a few Cyclocross Magazine subscribers, I should be receiving my copy any day. I am really excited to see how my interview of World Champ Marianne Vos' interview turned out. Hopefully it comes before my rest week is over!

Speaking of Cyclocross Magazine, starting NOW you can play FANTASY CYCLOCROSS where you choose your fantasy team and track its progress against the other fantasy teams. At the end of cross season, they give really cool prizes away. I already signed up and of course i chose myself for the team! Click HERE to PLAY!

The most exciting of all projects I've done so far this week was planting a garden. Ok, well jonas dug up the dirt while I sat nearby reading a book and sipping homemade lemonade. We planted basil, spinach, scallions, parsley, veldsla (field salad), turnips, corn, kale, bieslook (not sure what it is in english - looks like mini scallion with garlic taste), farmers salad (again, not sure what it is but will find out its' taste soon enough) and a few other items i cant remember. It looks like nothing so far but i look forward to our little square of bare dirt coming alive.

I also saw my doctor today. Thankfully after a thorough exam, he gave me a clean bill of health. He specializes in pro cyclists so I always feel good getting his approval.

Tomorrow is the old mans ride. I love easy weeks. Although i must admit that hard training weeks are exciting in some twisted self-inflicting-torturous way.

Surprise mtb ending to a MTB race

I just found this video on racer Jeremy Furgeson's facebook - too funny! He wrote along with the video that if every race ended with an unexpected death drop, there would be more spectators!

Here is the LINK!

Lance-centric Giro d'Italia Cartoon Strip

Elmo came through with some more behind-the-scenes Giro action. This one is in the form of a comic strip.

Click HERE to read comic from VelocityNation

Behind the Scenes of Final Giro Stage

Most of you may know by now that Denis Menchov crashed just one kilometer from the finish line where he was expected to win the overall Giro d'Italia title. What most of you may not know is how his teammates reacted to his crash while watching the race from the mobilehome alongside the finish.

Elmo just sent me this youtube link so we can now all be privy to a little behind-the-scenes action.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU5AdwTg37U

Is it time to race yet??

Since returning from NYC i have been back to training, training, training, and more training! But there is nothing like a race to get your blood flowing with so much adrenaline with which almost no drug can compare. I say almost because i am somewhat of a drug neophyte. I have tried most of those that accompany broken bones and such, but my list of drugs for recreational use - or at least ones used when there is no medical emergency - is a pretty short one, namely alcohol. I havent even tried pot.

When i was in California last April, my friend told me about a story of a 75 year old guy who arrived at his girlfriend's house before she did, rummaged for food, found the big bag of special chocolate chip cookies laced with hash and ate them all. Luckily he didnt die but was awfully confused and probably a bit perturbed. Since i never tried that drug, i couldnt help but wonder if he would have enjoyed the high more had he been privy to ramifications of his cookie monster indulgence.

Back on the topic of training, i am pleased to report it is still going well. Last week i included four group rides in my training! And at each ride i got much needed feedback on my fitness level at the moment.

The first was the Begijnendijk ride that averages about 35-36kph. There are so many cyclists in attendance that the ride is usually split up into three groups of fifty. Usually the first group is the only one to ride in a double paceline where each rider takes pulls of 2km on the front of each line before making her way to the back. The second and third groups often ride the same speed as the first but without trading organized pulls. But for some reason, on Tuesday the second group was riding about 5km slower than the first. So in a spur-of-the-moment decision, Jonas and I decided to bridge to the first group. Within a millisecond of our decision he was gone. While i was chasing behind, i noticed that my speedometer read 51kph. How thrilled was i to see that i can put my face in the wind at speeds of over 50kph (30mph). That little maneuver to the front group totally made my day.

The second of the group rides was last Thursday with the Zaventem riders who average 36kph - no matter wind, rain, a passing train. Thursday was no exception - strong winds and sprinkles (or maybe that was sweat from the guys in front) made for a tough 36. From the proverbial gun, the ride was up at full speed, standard single file formation while weaving in and out of the neighborhoods on tiny streets riddled with parked cars and trees planted in the middle of the street (a strange belgian thing).

This is my second time doing this ride so i learned a thing or five. One of the lessons learned from my first ride was to never show your face in the wind for long periods of time if you want to be assured to finish the ride - with the group. First time around i showed my face a few times in the beginning, making the rest of the ride one hell of a struggle.

This time i kept to the back. Lesson learned here was the same every racer learns during "Racing 101". It is harder in the back due to the yo-yo effect, where you have to sprint out of every turn faster and longer than the riders in front. And if that wasnt enough punishment, with about 10km to go Jonas jumps out of the peloton in solo pursuit of the two-rider breakaway. Without thinking, which is usually how these things happen, I jump too. With no draft from him, I too had to bridge with no help AND a whole peloton in tow. Just when i was almost bridged, my engine stalled. I remained three meters behind them for what felt like forever. Thankfully, the guy in queue behind me gave a little push and i landed on the three-man train. No less than a minute later, the rollers hit. Bad timing. I worked so hard my head was spinning but i stayed tough to the end and even finished well in the uphill sprint.

The next two group rides were yesterday and today - both mtb rides (although i use my Ahrens cross bike.) Here in belgium they have about 10-50 mtb tours per week. You pay 3-5€ and you get marked trails, riding companions and feed zones filled with cookies, cake, bananas, raisins, dark chocolate, energy drink and water. Not a bad deal! During these two rides I got to test my cyclocross skills at top speed through turns, lots of sand, cobbles and tight twisty singletrack. And it was a success!

Now that i have positive feedback that my fitness is on the right track, I am ready to start pushing the envelope as they say. First up is this Thursday's Zaventem ride. Maybe i will try a few things...And motorpacing starts this week as well. My first race is scheduled for July 4th. It is a local race in a neighboring town so i will fill the backpack and ride over. Last time i did this race i placed 2nd. Although i dont have any designs on winning it this year as it is my first race of the season, i remind myself that stranger things have happened...

BTW, the fruit tart has nothing to do with this story but i posted the foto in honor of cherry season.