TOP TEN BABY !!!

Just found out i finished 10th today at the Herentals Criterium. Considering there was only one girl behind me at the finish line our peloton got real small by the end. Either way, TOP TEN BABY!!! I'll gladly take it - especially considering i lost a pile of salt to get that result.

Just finished race 1 of 5 this week

Wow, that was a shock. After a tough recovery process from ripping my back muscles 6 weeks ago, having to do intervals again was a fairly unpleasant experience. 

Luckily, as the peloton got smaller and smaller i was able to stay with them. I may not have won the race (as that honor well deservedly went to Kaat Hannes) or even placed second as that went to little miss powerhouse Ellen van Loy. BUT i did finish the race with the group and that was enough to put a smile on my face!

Thanks to all of you who came out to cheer for me!! Ik heb jullie allemaal gehoord!!

Tomorrow's race is Bambrugge - with a hill. I'll be able to see if my legs held onto any climbing form from Tour of Cyprus or Benidorm Training Camp with the BABOCO boys earlier in the year. fingers crossed!

Almost "ready" to race..

I say "ready" because racing is nothing like training. And when all you do is train, it is hard to have an idea how a race will go. The good news is that my injuries appear to be healed and i am back on Coach Elmo's training program putting in lots and lots of hours on the bike in an attempt to get back to where i was a month ago.  Bad news is that Belgium's weather has really sucked lately but even so, i have been showing up outside to do the work so i'm ready to race again.

I have exactly two weeks before i am back at a start line again. Once back, it will be busy, busy, busy - just how i like it.

My next races are:

July 26 Herentals Post-Tour Criterium

July 27  Bambrugge Road Race

July 28  Wolvertem-Meise Post-Tour Criterium

July 29  Haaltert Road Race    

July 31 Kapellen Post-Tour Criterium

If you are wondering what Post-Tour Criteriums are, they are a collection of "show" events held just after the Tour de France to show off the tour riders to the spectators.  They also invite some other folks to attend who are known to the public such as cross racers like Bart Wellens, Tom Meeusen, etc.  For the women, space is also by invitation only so i am lucky enough to be invited to these events.  Hopefully my legs will be in order enough to put on a good show.

As always, thanks for reading and thanks to those who sent me well wishes when i broke myself a month ago!! That really helped a lot for motivation!!

Today was Old Mans Ride

With cyclocross season on my mind, i have naturally been motivated to get back into a solid training routine after my crash three weeks ago in a race.  Today the plan was to try my luck with the "Bakkers" group ride tonight out of Zaventem so i could gauge where i am in my recovery.  While it is called a ride, it is more like a controlled race where they drive each other into the ground.  It is mainly either racers or unnaturally fast dudes who show.  If i could hold on, then I'd be theoretically ready to race.  As i was not sure if i could do it, i enlisted my friend Kenny to "babysit" me for the evening so that way he could keep me in the group if i have a bad moment.  Kenny is one of those freaks of nature who rides 2-3 times per week at most but somehow remains the guy to watch in a group consisting of crazy fast guys.

But with rain scheduled for tonight, i changed my plans and joined the Old Mans Ride this afternoon instead.  While i didnt get the full test i did get enough of a teaser to have an idea of where my fitness is at the moment, especially when they were pushing the pace at 44kph (27.3mph) for a while.  It took myself out of the line of riders so i could do the work with full wind in my face.   I am pleased to say that, while it didnt feel completely comfortable, it also didnt put me in the red.  I could tell, however, that if it went faster i would feel pain from breathing harder.  And standing on the pedals doesnt work yet without pain - i found out today, again. But it's coming along, and that was the purpose of today's ride - mission accomplished. 

While riding on the Old Mans Ride, i couldnt help but think about how far they've come over the years.  The first time i rode with this group out of Kortenberg located in the center of Belgium was six years ago.  The group consisted mainly of 60-85 years olds (hence, the nickname that a bunch of us use for the group) and rode no faster than 30kph (18.5mph) - ever with an average speed no higher than 26kph (16mph) by the end of their flat tour. But for the last two years, the "Old Mans Ride" nickname has become a bit misleading.  It's still mainly the same guys but now they are fast old guys. Today's ride, for instance, was average 31kph (19.2mph).  When you take into consideration all the turns, stop signs, stop lights, etc that they encounter when riding through a country consisting of little towns that connect to one another, it is very impressive.  They even enjoy playtime where they take turns attacking each other.

As an American, i can't help but to find it bizarre to watch a group of old guys killing each other and periodically exploding with full fireworks coming out of their heads when they go too deep. But i must say that i am inspired by them. I really hope i can be that fast when i am their age.

Today we passed a group of guys who were about the same age as our guys, but the others were all on upright town bikes going about half our speed.  I couldnt have been more proud of my Old Men as we zipped by the other old guys. It is a common occurence here in Belgium to see older folks killing on the bike but i couldnt imagine groups like this in USA. I remember in California and also in NYC, the group rides I knew of (and joined) were basically mainly racer dudes with a few older folks who were mostly former racers.  I must say that it is a nice feeling to know that no matter my age or speed level, here in Belgium i can always find a group to ride with. That is...if i remain in the country long enough to reach that age.  The thought of eventually moving to Spain or southern France still makes me happy - to be warm in the winter is not such a bad thing, i think.

Still in the Neverending Healing Phase

Well, it has now been 2 1/2 weeks since my crash in Aalburg. And as of last night, the torn back muscle pain (that decided to spread completely around to the front of my chest where it deposited a collection of blood bruises) combined with a nasty case of whiplash has diminished enough that i can just now get away with simple "over the counter" pain meds.  How happy am I!! It looks like I'll actually get a full night of sleep at some point in the near future.

With diminished pain, i even got in a couple of rides outdoors although i found i definitely have a limit to how long i can ride.  After about 40 minutes or so the discomfort starts jumping up quickly. I did however figure out a way to cheat the breathing part of the injury a little bit.  If i go faster than a very easy pace where i have to breathe a little deeper, the pain is sharp. But i found that if i just push a bigger gear (haha) it takes a slightly higher speed before the breathing pain kicks in. 

Yeah, sure it's a bummer that it happened but at least i can see now that there can possibly be an end to this where i can start training normally again.  Cyclocross season may still be three months away but this period of the year is really when i needed to be getting in some real training for optimal preparation - so its good to see that i may be "normal" soon.

At least my bike is mostly in good condition, although the wheel took a lethal hit from the gal who was catapulted into me from the domino effect that seemingly started on the other side of her.

Hopefully my next post will be a bit more cheery. And thanks to all of you who sent me well wishes! That really meant a lot!!

Tomorrow is X-ray Day

and this is how i felt!

I earned that honor of subjecting myself to a set of x-rays when i behaved inappropriately at the doctor's office this morning.  My doctor had me lift both arms so he could put his hands on either side of my torso. But when he lightly squeezed, instead of telling him whether or not i felt anything untoward, i sprung across the room to hide behind Jonas.  Well, it was either that or a punch in the face due to my natural "fight or flight response". 

He tried to coerse me into coming back over towards him but i was in such pain I couldnt quite make out his words, although i expect it was something like, "come on over little girly, wanna piece of candy? I dont bite."  It didnt work.

In hindsight i realize that my response was a bit bizarre but at the time it felt like the smartest thing to do.  At least Jonas didnt get up out of his chair and pound his fists against his chest in my defense as i firmly hid behind him. haha!

Wanna know what it's like....

to be at a training camp as the only girl in a boy's cyclocross team?

CLICK HERE to read all about the ins, outs, ups, down, highs, lows...

Shot for the stars but landed on my head

start of Begijnendijk by Peter Schepens

The first of my scheduled four races went quite well. At the Begijnendijk road race in BE i sat comfortably in the peloton, finishing 29th in the bunch sprint out of 70 starters.

As my next two races located in Holland were UCI international events, where you need to be part of a team to participate, I guest rode for the  Green Coaching UK team. 




Valkenburg RR by Anton Vos

The first was Valkenburg Hills road race.  It was unfortunately not as easy as my last road race which i expected considering it was a higher level of competition.  With little peloton experience this season i found myself too far back when the neutral section ended and we were dumped at the base of narrow climbs at the start of the race.  My "excuse me, pardon me, can i get by" only got me so far - ok, well actually not one gal moved out of the way at my request. So by the time i got to the top of the narrowest climb, the gaps were already formed. Considering it is not possible for me to ride faster than or even as fast as the fastest gals in the race, i was pretty much relegated to my position.  I was, however, able to move a few spots up over the next kilometers to somewhere around 80th (out of around 150 riders) but since they only counted up to 72nd position in the official results, you wont find me and the rest of the gals who came in after the cut. 

me, Jonas, and Claire Fraser

The second race of 7-Dorpenomloop Aalburg was significantly worse than the first considering it left me in agonizing pain and covered in itchy welts.  This time around i got to the start line early so i didnt have to fight to get near the front during the neutral section before the race started. Somewhere after 10km into the race, i thought to myself, well this is going well. I feel nice and comfy. BUT shortly thereafter I was smacked into by an out-of-control cyclist. She hit me so hard that two of my spokes were crumpled. I had a split second to choose if i land in Nettle bushes or on the pavement and i chose the former. Still not sure if i made the right decision as i sit here, not even able to breathe without pain - and the itchies from head to ankle surely dont make things easier. In addition to the Nettle poisoning, i severely tore the muscles in my back in the rib area. If i find a comfy position and dont move, then i only have pain from breathing. Otherwise, if i make a wrong move - or almost any move - i have a stabbing pain in my back so strong that at times i come really close to the lights going out. Ugh. 

I know this too shall pass and i should consider myself lucky considering it could have been worse (ie. Marianne Vos broke her collarbone in Valkenburg Hills) but it doesnt seem to make the pain go away.

With all this said, I am sorry to say i will be sitting this weekend out from racing - no Belgacom Antwerpen MTB for me.  My goal is to try and get on the trainer by the end of the week - fingers crossed.  I miss my bike already.

Summer Race Schedule - in progress

As i have not received a team mountain bike this season (and my current bike is 10 years old and half falling apart), i have changed my whole race schedule around for the summer - now focusing more on road races.   But as i am changing it all around so late in the season, my racing will be limited.  I will try to throw in a few mtb races here and there because it's so much fun, although my current mtb may not be so happy about this!

My next 4 races are:

Begijnendijk  18 May
Valkenburg Hills Classic (UCI event) 25 May 
7-dorpenomloop Aalburg (UCI event) 26 May
Belgacom MTB GP: Antwerpen (UCI event)  2 June

Tour of Cyprus reports

Sorry...again...for being so lax on my blog updates. Just to catch you up quickly, here are links to two stories i wrote on my Tour of Cyprus race experience almost a couple months back.

For CYCLOCROSS Magazine's coverage, click HERE.

For Pelotonpost.com 's coverage, click HERE.

They are completely different stories from different angles, by the way. One is more of my goofy view of the trip and the other is more of what it is was like to be in Cyprus.

Happy reading!

Viva la Vegan Magazine's interview of me is now online!

Check it out by clicking HERE!
Thanks!
And later today I'm being interviewed by a radio station - so looking forward to it!! 
I gotta remember to say everything correctly the first time around since it's not so easy to edit on radio - :-)

Stories from my last races of cross season

Leuven by Krist Vanmelle

Since last i posted in January, i have raced a couple of World Cups where i finished 26th and 34th (Liévin, FR and Hoogerheide, NL respectively) and a handful of other races mainly with results in the teens.

BUT more interestingly, here are links to my rider diary on CYCLOCROSS Magazine detailing the last two races of my season :

Celebration Cookies at Oostmalle

Cycling under disco lights

I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as i had fun living them!

Thanks ever so much for your continued support - and for reading my blog!!! It means a lot to know that I am not alone in my adventures.

Jersey Auction for 7-yr old kid

There is an Ebay auction of top CX stars' signed jerseys for a physically challenged 7 yr old boy so he can have a special bike and know what it feels like to ride like the wind like we all do!!! 

Want to help him to know the feeling you get every time you get on your bike?

Help to get him out riding!

Check it out and bid! Jerseys of ME, Margriet Kloppenburg, Gabby Day Helen Wyman Sanne Cant Marianne Vos Daphny van den Brand, Jonathan Page Christine Vardaros Sven Nys, Zdeněk Štybar Niels Albert and many more!

Go and Bid NOW! CLICK HERE TO START

Thanks in advance for  your help!!!!

TOUR OF CYPRUS - are YOU ready for the challenge???

Want to kickstart your season? Or get perfect preparation for an upcoming Gran Fondo event?  Then this is the perfect workout experience!!

I did this two years ago.  The memories i have from it will last forever which is why i am telling you about it!

It is a three-day stage ride/race from Friday through Sunday, March 23-25, 2012
Day 1 - 80km
Day 2 - 120km
Day 3 - 115km
Click HERE for the maps/charts

They offer two groups to join:

1. Cycling for glory - with timed sections where you can challenge yourself against the clock, claim the win of the day or even win the coveted leader's jersey
Each day, a timed section of about 20km or so is scheduled in the middle of the 80-120km ride.

2. Cycling for personal glory - same routes as the other group but no timed sections.

There are feed zones along the way with standard staples like bananas, etc but they also include exotic snacks that you'll want to stuff yourself with!

You can also extend your visit to make it a long holiday - contact organizer for help with this.

At the moment, flights are cheap to Cyprus so book NOW!!

Click HERE for Registration
Click HERE for more info

Christmas Period Racing = Overloaded, yet undercharged

GVA Baal by Luc van der Meiren

The last weeks were the toughest of the season for me. I had timed my fitness so i would kick ass during the Christmas period of racing  - even went to Spain a couple weeks previous for 10 days to get in the hard trainings.  But the outcome was not to be the way i had planned it in my head.

Usually it wouldn't be especially difficult for me to have done those 7 races in two weeks (or 9 races in three weeks) as i recover quickly from hard efforts but i unfortunately entered this race period with a bladder infection.  I tried to first treat it homeopathically for a few days with cranberry pills, lots of water, garlic, etc but only found out on the morning of Namen World Cup that my attempt had failed miserably. Not only had i missed out on sleep for a whole week from drinking an overload of water and having to pee every ten minutes through the night, but I 'woke up' that morning of the World Cup with a very strong pain in my kidney. Bugger!  Now i had the infection in both bladder and kidney.

Namen World Cup

And if i didnt feel like crap enough, on the drive to Namen, while the other racers were downing their pre-race meals and drinks, i was sipping at a nasty-tasting super strong antibiotic drink.  Needless to say, the race was a disaster.

Just after i crossed the finish line having only beaten a handful of gals, I was greeted by the sweetest group of folks who patiently waited there for me to arrive.  Their enthusiasm was so infectious (no pun intended) that for a moment i thought that maybe i had done better than I thought.  But alas, they were simply there to offer a bit of comfort to me on a very trying day. I got warm comments like, "Way to finish", "You looked great on the descents".  On top of that, my press and media friends jumped in to take photos and even grab an inteview of me.  I felt like a rockstar, a very sick one but nonetheless special. THANKS TO YOU ALL!!!!  I held it together until i got back to the "Peanut" van before i broke into tears.

Essen by Johan Pelgrims

With only four days of semi-rest till the next race i didnt expect much, and i got exactly what i expected. I was 15th but on a course like that i should have been better if health were on my side. I knew things were amiss when on the first long climb almost the whole peloton passed me at twice the speed.

Three days later was yet another World Cup in Zolder, BE - on a Formula 1 track actually.  Last year i cracked my pelvis on the track on an ice patch so with that in mind combined with my neverending recovery from the kidney infection, my expectations were not too high.  Again, even though the course suited me, the best i could manage was 29th.

Two days later i was back at it at GVA Trofee Azencross (Loenhout). This course is never a good one for me and that day it was no different from the years previous. I finished in 19th and put the experience out of my mind.

Essen by Dirk Bruylant

By this point, I was feeling pretty tired but a bit more recovered from the hit my body took from the infection.  I had one day of recovery before the next event so I used it to check out the upcoming course as it was nearby in Leuven. I was joined by some friends to help me with line choices, etc.  Our party on wheels included of course Jonas, Jo Croonenberghs, fellow vegan Frans Claes, and Jimmy Eecloo.    

The next morning after a night of heavy rain, the Fidea Leuven course was completely different. It was still fun to play in the mud the day previous though.  As for the race, it was a real mudfest.  My start was for the first time in a while not so disastrous. During the race i passed a couple of people and finished 12th.  It was a solid race and even more importantly a good feeling that my fitness is still there and confirmation that i am indeed almost recovered from the tool that infection took on me. 

Zolder by Krist Vanmelle

Again, with only one day of rest, I was at the venue of the last race of the Christmas period - GVA Trofee Baal (Sven Nys).  To celebrate a tough period for us, Jonas and I prepared a bunch of Gluhwein and candy to give to all our friends/supporters/fellow racers.  As we ended up parking 300 meters from the venue, almost nobody saw us to celebrate. Oh well, after the race we celebrated ourselves with a bit of gluhwein and a couple pieces of candy - our consolation party as we were in bed by 10pm the night before - New Year's Eve.

As for the race, again i had a decent start and again i passed a couple of riders to come in 14th. What thrilled me about this race was that for the first time this season i saw riders that i normally never see like Reza Hormes-Ravenstijn, Arenda Grimberg and even sprinted for 13th with Ellen van Loy. I cant say i felt like a superhero by any means, but it surely gave me hope for the rest of the season.  The course was also a good one for me i must admit as it was technical and riddled with heavy mud - something that suits me more than the road-race on cross bikes style.

Namen by Patricia Cristens

With another week until my next race (Liévin World Cup-FR), i took a few days to rest and am now back onto interval/power training and feeling optimistic.

I know i've said it before but i feel like i cannot say it enough - I want to thank you all for your unwavering support!! It really makes the racing experience so much more managable on the bad days and memorable every day - a feeling that I am not alone at the start line but with my extended family of sorts!!  It really means the world to me!!

GVA Baal by Filip François

Thanks Jonas (aka CakePie) for being the best husband ever, thanks to Jurgen Landrie, Sofie Piens, and Ernst van Looveren for being the best crew support, all my facebook/twitter/email friends, Jonas' and my families, all my excellent sponsors like BABOCO, STEVENS, 3T, ProBar, Challenge Tires, Mt Tam Bikes, and BikePure, and of course to all my friends and supporters who stand on the sidelines at the races to cheer their hearts out for me and to take such gorgeous photos of me; i hear - and sometimes see - you all!!!!!