Snow in Belgium - finally!

It has been a very trying month with my collection of injuries on top of one another, especially when they timed themselves to hit just before the Christmas season of racing here in Belgium.  With 7 races in 14 days, there was no time for returning my fitness to normal but rather all i focused on was survival. And that is what i did. I survived.

While i may have had a tough time finding the resources to get to that start line day after day, i think that Jonas had the raw end of the deal.  All i had to do was ride my bike and he did the rest - everything that did not require pedaling, he was responsible for.  We made a good team - but by early January, we were both fried. Luckily we also had a bit of help along the way in the form of Sofie, Jurgen, Ernst, Danny, Peter, Mario, Patricia, Linda and so on!! That surely helped a lot to take a bit of the pressure off.

After a ten day break from racing (which is long in cyclocross), I was back at it yesterday in Otegem's Int'l Betafence Cyclocross today. For the first time since mid-november, I felt healthy and motivated! That was just what i needed to lift the spirits going into the next races.   

Thanks to everyone who has sent kind messages to me and cheered me on.  Very kind of you all!!

Next weekend is Int'l CX Rucphen and Hoogerheide World Cup. Bring it on...

To follow me on facebook, click here for my Christine "Peanut" Vardaros page or you can subscribe to my regular Facebook page here. Thanks!

Been a rough few weeks but i see the light!!

If you want to read about my last few weeks of digging myself into a hole, click HERE to be taken to my online diary at CYCLOCROSS Magazine.

Post-Scheldecross by Ilse Hendrickx

Superprestige Gavere article live on CYCLOCROSS Mag

foto by Kris Claeye

If you want to read all about the Military Domain of Pain, click HERE to read it on CYCLOCROSS Magazine.

Latest Article in CYCLOCROSS Magazine

Here is my last article in CYCLOCROSS Magazine. The magazine is now available in digital format - click HERE to check out a free preview!  If you are happy with what you see and want to read more, click HERE to subscribe.

Wanna know what i've been up to?

Gavere - by Bram van Lent

Oops.  I promised myself i'd be better at updating my blog but I fell off the job. 

I am now two months into the cyclocross season and it has already been filled with highs and lows.  It started off solid with a 4^th, 10^th, and 12^th at the first three events of Hoboken CX, Soudal Neerpelt, and Bosduin Kalmthout.  (The 12^th was bittersweet for me as I had a mishap two seconds into the race where my chain bounced off to the outside of the chainring, putting me in  2nd to last place.)  Although the early season is usually a bit trying for me as I need a few races to get into the rhythm, I was pleased with my form. 



Niel by Patricia Cristens

Expecting every race to get better and better, I was surprised to find that the following race took a bit of a turn for the worse where I placed 13^th in the Ruddervoorde Superprestige event.  The following couple of weeks were spent in the Czech Republic where I contested the first two rounds of World Cups that were held in the towns of Tabor and Plzen where I placed 30^th and 28^th  respectively.  A few days later I was back at it again at the opening round of the BPost Bank Trofee series – Koppenbergcross where the race course is held on the infamous cobbled Koppenberg climb made famous by the Tour of Flanders, one of the two greatest one-day road races. There, on a course that suited my sinewy climbing legs, I placed 19^th so I knew that it was time to take a  much needed rest.

Gavere by Bram van Lent

For the next week I rode no more than 20 minutes a day in an attempt to recharge the body.  Thankfully it worked because the next weekend I came out fighting again at Soudal’s Niel event.  My start was excellent, putting me immediately in top six in the beginning of the race. Unfortunately I took myself out on a manmade ramp, wrapping myself and my bike around a pole when I slid out on a muddy bit. Chasing back from almost last place, I made it up to 9^th by the finish.  Job well done. Most importantly, that experience left me feeling optimistic for what is to come in the next months!

Gavere by Robert Goedgezelschap

Even though I may not have won any of these races, the supporters on the sidelines – and on facebook, twitter, etc – treated me as if I were a superhero.  It is a very special feeling to hear a steady stream of folks cheering your name at every single event.  I am very lucky to have so many wonderful people who believe in me no matter my result. 

If you'd like to read all about my trip to Czech Republic - including my trips to places like Prague - check out my post on PelotonPost. 

And to read all about my latest race last weekend at Superprestige Gavere, you can shortly check it out on CYCLOCROSS Magazine.

Gavere by Tom Prenen

For the next few months I race at least once per week, with a 3-week holiday period filled with 3 events per week. In two weeks, the World Cup events resume with Koksijde, BE and Roubaix, FR - one after another.   after that it is around two-three races per week through first week of January. Then one race per week for the rest of january, followed by two per week through end of February.  Fingers crossed that my future results match the motivation I am feeling right now!

First Belgian CX Racing Weekend Completed

Neerpelt by Johan Pelgrims

In Belgium, a country that seemingly revolves around cyclocross, the first big weekend of the season is always filled with much anticipation for both the riders and fans.   While the riders are curious to test out their offseason training, the fans are equally occupied with thoughts about the riders as well as with their own preparations for the long season ahead.  Just like racers, the fans’ work begins months in advance, with tasks like making sure to equip themselves with the newest supporter clothing, readying their winter gear, clearing their calendars for their favorite events – even if just to watch it on TV which is equally important, creating facebook pages for each event where they can check in with others about the race, and solidifying plans with their friends and supporter clubs on where to meet at the event as well as their game plan once there.  Just like the racers, the fans show up a few hours before the start of the event. They use that time for meet-and-greets, giving their favorite riders a few encouraging words before the event, collecting photo trading cards and setting up their ideal spot to watch the excitement.   

Neerpelt by Jozef Cooreman

Now that the first big weekend has come and gone, it appears to me that it did not disappoint.  While some of the riders and their fans may have been dissatisfied by the results, the festive atmosphere clearly remained intact.   

The weather may have helped the atmosphere as it was atypically sunny and warm for Belgium at almost 70°F.  The riders could luxuriously parade around in their short sleeve skinsuits while the spectators could enjoy a nice cold beer under blue skies.   The weather also led to swelled crowds, adding to that party atmosphere that was felt by both rider and spectator alike.   

The first up was Soudal GP Neerpelt (formerly known as FIDEA Neerpelt).  The course was very interval-intensive which proved to give many athletes a test of endurance, including me. The first half of the lap was mainly mini semi-sand where you have to either power ride or run up, then immediately descend to the base of the next one. For the ones we had to run, the trick was to clip in the moment we remounted before shooting down the bumpy, loose descent. Otherwise it was a scary ride from what I discovered the hard way on one of the laps. The second half was mainly flat winding terrain with an out-and-back sandpit close to the finish.

Neerpelt by Lesley Staes

I had only done one training race before this weekend so I felt a bit underprepared.  My mind, though, was keyed up and ready to go.  I stood there at the start line feeling confident as I watched the giant LED screen above the start-finish strip that was to signal us when to take off.  As the five red balls that spanned across the screen lit up one by one, I knew it was a brief moment before all five red balls simultaneously turn green which was our signal to GO!

As every cross racer knows, the first few minutes of that inaugural race is always a shock. It was no different for me. While part of me was overwhelmed with excitement to hear all the cheers of my friends and supporters, my legs and lungs were screaming in pain. It turned out to be worth the suffering when I crossed the line in 10^th place – a first for me in over a year at one of these UCI events in Belgium.

The next day I was even more motivated to race, with the goal of besting my 10^th from the day previous.  I am usually better on the second day of racing so it was perfectly possible that I could make it happen.  The course was mainly winding singletrack – the kind that reverts even the toughest badass into a free-spirited kid as he shoots out of berms at rocket speed.

Start by Robbe Jochems

The first two seconds of my race played out perfectly.  I nailed that elusive instant “clip-in-and-go” and was powering my way to a solid run down the starting straight.  But it was that third second that shot me to the ground – almost literally.  Out of nowhere, my right leg jerked straight to the pavement with an explosive force that left my bike uncontrollably wobbling from side to side.  Magically I was able to keep it upright. Once steady, I took a peek below to see what was off. My chain.  It had bounced off the big ring and onto the crank arm.

I soft-pedaled for a bit while trying to tease the chain back on. Just as I slipped it in place, the last place girl came by and kindly gave me a push to help me on my way. I still am amazed by that unbelievably kind gesture.   On such a course with single-file turns every few seconds, I had a trying time moving up in the field. By the time I got four gals in sight who were fighting for 8^th through 11^th, I was fried.  Game over.  I rode through the finish in 12^th, feeling both dejected yet optimistic for the races to come.

by Victor Zandbergen

The flipside to my race was that I put in a good show for those who came out to watch me (HEEL ERG BEDANKT VOOR JULLIE AANMOEDIGINGEN!!!).  I may not have made it anywhere near the podium but my supporters managed to make me feel as though I were just as spectacular as Sanne Cant, the well-deserved winner of the race. 

The next race on my schedule is Sunday, the first round of the Superprestige Series to be held in Ruddervoorde.  As of this week, the cold rainy grey skies are back in action here in Belgium so I expect it will be a Limus kind of day – mud, mud, and more mud.  It may have been easier to be a cross racer in California when it comes to the weather, but I must say there is nothing like being inspired by tens of thousands of folks at every race – even when the weather turns to crap.   The Belgian tradeoff, I suppose.

 

I'm a HempAge Girl!

For those of you who are linked to me on my facebook account , you already read about my partnership with HempAge, a super cool clothing company that makes clothing out of HEMP!

AND for those of you who have already asked if i plan to smoke my clothes, just thought you ought to know two things, 1. Hemp clothing IS made of weed, BUT another variety that is not smoked, and 2. Even if it were the same variety of hemp that you get a high from, I doubt that i would smoke it since i never smoked pot - ever.  Hard to believe considering my past lives, but, hey, we all have to have something strange about us!

To read all about the partnership between me and HempAge, CLICK HERE on CYCLOCROSS Magazine's website.

Link to my radio interview with Radio Ara

You can hear a mini recap of my speech thanks to Radu Burtescu at Radio Ara who interviewed me at the International Animal Rights Conference.

CLICK HERE , then click on download at the top right.

It will also be aired again live on the Luxembourg Radio Ara station on Thursday, September 20 from 3PM to 5PM, Belgian time (+1) via live stream by clicking HERE. 

Combo-trip of Ardennes training and Int'l Animal Rights Conf.

pre-talk meal

Last week I was back on the road again - but this time for "pure pleasure", yeah a bit of work done but had a BLAST!

Since we had to be in Luxembourg for my talk at International Animal Rights Conference we combined it with a couple of hilly training days in the Ardennes.

We went to La Roche en Ardenne so we'd have a cute town to walk through in the evenings.  Our apartment was just a few meters from town.  Everything in our housing arrangement was great except for two things. The first was that it was spider-central.  Every few minutes i would encounter one of these creatures from the flying variety to the big thick hairy ones.  The first night i had spider nightmares - no sleeping to be had.  It could have also been partly due to the bed, which was the second thing wrong with the apartment.  The bed was more like a U-shape, where the sag in the middle was big enough to get lost in, or to be a great hiding place for yet more spiders. 

La Roche en Ardenne Castle

Thankfully Jonas came up with a way to minimize the sag by placing the spare blankets on top of the metal sagging beam. It wasnt perfect but at least we didnt have to struggle the whole night to crawl out of the hole.

As for the training, it felt fun to be in the hills again where i could interval myself into the ground.

International Animal Rights Conference was a unique experience.  Instead of giving a talk to random folks who were maybe vegetarian, i was speaking to a room full of animal rights activists (obviously all vegan) with maybe the odd vegetarian here and there. 

It was great to hear that my talk was appreciated and valued.  Based on the questions and comments i heard later, it seems that some of them even memorized my key points!  Again, i totally forgot to record my talk to share with those who couldn't make it there. But i was interviewed by a cool Luxembourg radio station shortly afterwards.  I will post the link here shortly!

THANKS PROBAR !!!

I am about to start yet another season of cyclocross, but first wanted to do a shout-out to  PROBAR, my energy bar sponsor for SEVEN YEARS.  All the accomplishments i have made as a pro cyclist in those years - all the wins as well as World Cup/Championship appearances representing USA - could not have been done without my PROBARs to get me through the workouts as well as the races.  Even now, more than seven years later, I am still amazed by how well the bars work for giving me quick yet long lasting energy while taking care of my health needs.  AND most importantly, I am still excited by every bite - especially with the PROBAR bars as every bite is completely different from the last!

PROBAR represents on bike

To give you an idea of how much i rely on PROBARs, during the 8 hard days of climbing during my last training camp in France a couple of weeks ago, I ate 16 PROBARs (good for long, easy rides), 23 Fruition bars (good for racing or other hard efforts...and snacks), and 17 HALO bars. Not once was i bored with my snacks - which is the first time i can say that about an energy bar line.

THANKS AGAIN PROBAR FOR SEVEN WONDERFUL YEARS TOGETHER !!!!

PROBAR bike (foto:marc van est)

Just for the record, my current favorite flavors are: Superfruit Slam PROBAR, Cherry Fruition, and Nutty Marshmallow HALO

Training Camp - Peanut Style!

Just back from 11 days in the Vogezen - a very hilly, beautiful region in France - for a pre-cross-season training camp!  It was such a wonderful experience! Not only did it get to climb forever every day but the pre/post playtime was just as rewarding.  Before every ride, Jonas and i got to sit outside of our camping right on the lake (xonrupt-longemer) enjoying our breakfast of fresh coffee, fruit, and bread (baguette of course) with a bit of muesli.  And after our ride, we'd head into the water to play. 

On one such afternoon, our neighboring camper named Bernd treated us to an impromptu windsurfing lesson. That was simply TOPS!

I still have to accurately calculate my ride details but for my 8 training days in the mountains it is something around 31 hours to cover 650km with 16,000 altitude meters.

More stories to come to cover the rest of my trip to NYC and NJ as well as my trip to France. But first i have to go out for pizza at our favorite restaurant where they make the ideal vegan pizza with fresh arrugula on top.



Back from USA

Dessert at Franchia Cafe NYC

Before i start gushing about my trip to NY i first want to let you know that another interview of me was just posted on the Earth Balance website.  They make some of my favorite vegan products!
Click HERE for the link to the article.
Thanks for reading!

From post-Tour crits to NYC

Kapellen by Luc van der Meiren

Well, I (mainly) successfully completed 5 races out of 6 days. the first was 10th, the second i did a few too many time-wasting efforts in the first round and suffered for the rest so I 'm going to forget about that day, the third was 17th place and feeling better, the fourth was also solid and finished again in the peloton sprint, and finally by the fifth race i was feeling completely comfortable with the pace of the race and finished 22nd i think in the bunch sprint.

The evening of my last race, Jonas and I had a great time hanging out with a great bunch of folks to celebrate the end of my mini-overload of racing.  I lived large with a ProBar in one hand and a Zen Republic Energy Drink in the other!

Haaltert by Linda de Brauwere

The next morning I was on the plane to NY. Going through London was not as crazy as i thought it would be. I think the folks at the London airport were also expecting a mad rush considering the dozens of "information" workers patrolling the terminal in an effort to herd the masses.  They were so bored that i was accosted by a few of them begging to help me find my way - which was unfortunately not necessary.  One such woman ran up to me as i was entering the security baggage check area.  She said, "Hello, are you in a rush?" I replied, "No. Did you want to talk?" She looked confused. It was then that i realized she was just trying to offer me the fast-track lane through the security check.

Wolvertem -by
Lydia Van de Meerssche

On the long flight from London to NY i sat next to a guy flying back from India. He pretty much slept the whole way.  When we did talk for a few minutes in the beginning, I found out that he was 50 years old; I was shocked. he looked about 35.  but when his "special meal" arrived i figured out his secret - a vegetarian! Not only was he an easy flight companion but he proved to be a very kind one as well. We walked to customs together then onto the baggage area. When i attempted to pay for a cart to carry my bike and bag, my Belgian Master Card didnt work - all five times i tried it. I still havent figured out why that happened. But anyway, the stranger treated me to a cart -a whopping $5. How kind.






Ronny and I heading over GW Bridge

The next morning Ronnie and I took off from NJ and rode our bikes over the George Washington Bridge and all around Manhattan. We also stopped off to visit Ruth and Bill who have been like parents to me for a few years in my early 20's. They are my heroes! At 89 and 94 years old, the two of them have such storied histories. What impresses me most about them is that they are more active and living life more than many folks i know.  They still work fulltime doing what they love and every weekend they still drive to their country house to enjoy their downtime.  We are meeting up again with them on Monday for dinner when they return.

Bear Swamp, NJ

The next day Ronnie and I went offroad riding. He took me to Bear Mountain area on some really rocky steep technical trails.  I loved it...until the black flies found me and stayed by my side the whole time.  And just when I am climbing the steepest of all climbs on a bed of rocks, one handed so i can use the other hand to swat the flies, Ronnie yells to me, "Keep your eyes out for black bears with their kids." Shit. I suppose if i would have remembered to lower the tire pressure before i went offroad it would have helped my situation that fraction of a bit.  

Me with Ruth and Bill

That evening we headed back into Manhattan for Afgan food on St. Mark's place.  It was strange to be back in my old stomping ground.  I used to live on St. Mark's Place between 2nd and 3rd avenues where all the grunge wierdos paced back and forth.  Now the block is more like yuppieville with a bunch of chique restaurants and tattoo parlors.  As we passed one of the tattoo parlors, the guy said, "Step inside. We have fresh muffins...or not." If he would have said the word "vegan" i may have given it a gamble.

love the food options in NYC

But instead we headed down the block for dessert to a vegan bakery called Whole Earth Bakery. I opted for the Chocolate Chip Chewy, which looked like a brownie.  How disappointed was I. There was nothing chewy or even tasty about the dessert. it was rather like eating cardboard.  I only had time to visit one bakery so i didnt have a second chance.  Luckily we passed a pizza place on the way home where i could get a garlic knot (with a spot of tomato sauce) and an italian ice for dessert. wow, that tasted unreal. I got the pina colada flavor. 

people have fun with their bikes in NYC

Today we are going for a nice long ride somewhere - not sure yet. The temperature is still hovering around 96°F (36°C) so you can bet my pockets will be filled with water bottles. I cant even remember the last time i was this warm.  Actually i just did.  It was a while back when i raced for Lotto-Belisol Ladiesteam.  We drove to France for the Tour de Limousin stage race in a heatwave.  When it came time to suit up for the time trial, we were all almost crying when we had to put our socks on - it was that warm!

Thanks for reading! I'll try to keep this blog updated so you can follow along on my silly adventures.

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!