Belgian classics

14 hours after waving goodbye to The Chainstay in Oudenaarde, I finally stepped inside my front door and took the next few steps to my bed! It's often the simple things in life that are the best and for me nothing beats kipping in my own bed!

The title of this blog "every day's a schoolday" certain sums up my first experience of racing in Belgium. I look back on those 12 days with some ace memories and maybe a mix of emotions. Definitely most of them positive, a few not so much but I definitely believe that you have to experience the lows to appreciate the highs even more! 

Here's a few things: 

Positioning is key! I know I've mentioned this one before, but in the Belgian crosswinds when the bunch is lined out and everyone around you seems intent on putting you in the gutter, getting in a good position and holding onto it will save you from gutter death and also save some beans for later in the race. Use your beans wisely!

Stay out of the seam of death! Even if the girl next to you tries to put you in it or the girl in front thinks it's a good idea to ride in it, don't! (N.B. the "seam of death" is a channel, just about wide enough but not quite to fit a wheel, separating the right and left sides of the road). 

Don't be afraid to mix it up! In order to improve you need to keep moving forward. That's both in a race and in training. In the bunch if you're not constantly moving forward then soon enough you'll be at the back! Trying new things is how you learn, every day's a school day after all!

So I spent most of the week after my crash assuming the horizontal position alternating between the sofa and bed, determined to line up with my Scotland teammates for the third and final race, Omloop van het Hageland Tielt Winge. Obviously I would've much preferred to have been racing Le Samyn des Dames but even I knew this was far too soon and kind of a crazy idea!

So what to do when you can't ride your bike? Watch classic bike races of course! And I watched a fair few, from World Champs from the '90s to famous one day classics. In a way though it was kind of like tormenting myself so when Wednesday came and I had the "ok" to get back on my bike I think my face muscles were more fatigued than any other part of me from smiling so much! This definitely helped soften the blow as the team left for the race, knowing I was off out into the Belgian sunshine for a spin along the canal. I was surprised how knackered I was after the wee recovery ride and just crashed out on the sofa the rest of the afternoon, watching the men's Le Samyn through my eyelids!!

Thursday and Friday and I was back riding with my teammates, good times! Friday's ride was ace, big thank you to Jane our navigator! We followed some of the Ronde van Vlaanderen parcours and took in another famous Belgian cobbled climb, The Muur, worth it for the amazing view at the top!! 

Race day arrived and having had an ace chat with Dave, my sports psych, the night before, I was feeling pretty positive about things and just really happy to be back racing again. The race started fairly steady, less twitchy and sketchy than the week before. It didn't take too long before I started to relax and feel confident to sit in the pocket and keep moving up in the bunch. As we neared the finishing circuit a big crash split the bunch. I got caught behind it and a chase ensued to get back to the group in front. A smaller group had pulled away in front but as we hit the cobbled climb it all came back together. My legs were starting to tire as we started the first of four laps on the circuit so when riders in front lost the wheel and a gap opened up it took a big effort to chase back on. I worked with a couple of other riders until the SC car came past and I could jump on the back to be pulled back up to the bunch. I used up the last of my beans in this chase until I popped and just had to roll back to the finish where my race ended, still 2 laps to go. If I'm giving an honest reflection of my race, then I achieved far more than I had thought I could when starting out that day, given what had happened that week. I was really disappointed not to have finished the race, but bike racing is all about the ups and downs and my learning curve continues. 

Even if my first experience of racing in Belgium and the Spring Classics wasn't exactly what I'd have hoped for, it was still an amazing experience. I definitely learnt from it and looking forward to racing there again soon!

Cheers,

Jools.