Today's race and prep was much more straightforward. But first I should say that yesterday wasn't all ugly, angry American. I did have a few good laughs about the whole day, one even that almost launched me off the couch.
I'm happy to say, that despite everyone saying that I won't finish a race in Belgium, I finished today. I got 27th and 10 Euros for my efforts. I think I could have placed a bit better, but I couldn't stand up and sprint at the end I was so smoked. That puts me at 15 Euros total in earnings. Not bad. I didn't expect anything.
The average speed today was 26.6 mph for 2 hours and 40 minutes. It was even a bit faster than yesterday but I guess I had good legs. I almost crashed 3 times, all of which would have been my fault. The first time I was eating and stabbed the brake because somebody got dodgy in front of me. I leaned on the guy to my left until I recovered. The second time I rubbed my front tire on my Jeremy's rear tire for quite a bit while I was trying to hide from the wind. I pulled out of that too. The last time I overcooked a corner and ended up riding through the grass before I jumped back on the pavement.
I'm finding that it's easier to race (and hide) when we're going into the wind. When we're racing with a tailwind the field goes ALL OUT. I'm pretty happy about getting the finish out of the way and now I can focus on doing a bit better. I will say today that I went to the front a bit, followed breaks (I certainly didn't try to start my own) and had a relatively active day.
And now for your Belgian cultural lesson. The other day we stopped a railroad crossing. When the gates went up, all the people restarted their engines. I don't think many Americans would have the foresight to shut their engines while they're waiting.
When something is good, you're supposed to say, "Is Goood" in a deep, loud voice. I think they call riders drivers. I also think call them drivers because they go to the front of the race and drive it. And almost everyone drives the race at some point.
The last bit is a hand motion that is supposed to encourage you to go hard. People do it all time talking about racing and while they're watching racing. I'd like you to follow along and try it yourself. Put your fist on your chest, thumb side against your chest. Now lower it to your waist. Crouch down a little bit. Now you're ready for it. You should move your fist away from your body, then towards your body, parallel to the floor, 3 or 4 times, relatively rapidly but powerfully.
Now you're ready to tell people to go faster while you sit and watch.
I'm happy to say, that despite everyone saying that I won't finish a race in Belgium, I finished today. I got 27th and 10 Euros for my efforts. I think I could have placed a bit better, but I couldn't stand up and sprint at the end I was so smoked. That puts me at 15 Euros total in earnings. Not bad. I didn't expect anything.
The average speed today was 26.6 mph for 2 hours and 40 minutes. It was even a bit faster than yesterday but I guess I had good legs. I almost crashed 3 times, all of which would have been my fault. The first time I was eating and stabbed the brake because somebody got dodgy in front of me. I leaned on the guy to my left until I recovered. The second time I rubbed my front tire on my Jeremy's rear tire for quite a bit while I was trying to hide from the wind. I pulled out of that too. The last time I overcooked a corner and ended up riding through the grass before I jumped back on the pavement.
I'm finding that it's easier to race (and hide) when we're going into the wind. When we're racing with a tailwind the field goes ALL OUT. I'm pretty happy about getting the finish out of the way and now I can focus on doing a bit better. I will say today that I went to the front a bit, followed breaks (I certainly didn't try to start my own) and had a relatively active day.
And now for your Belgian cultural lesson. The other day we stopped a railroad crossing. When the gates went up, all the people restarted their engines. I don't think many Americans would have the foresight to shut their engines while they're waiting.
When something is good, you're supposed to say, "Is Goood" in a deep, loud voice. I think they call riders drivers. I also think call them drivers because they go to the front of the race and drive it. And almost everyone drives the race at some point.
The last bit is a hand motion that is supposed to encourage you to go hard. People do it all time talking about racing and while they're watching racing. I'd like you to follow along and try it yourself. Put your fist on your chest, thumb side against your chest. Now lower it to your waist. Crouch down a little bit. Now you're ready for it. You should move your fist away from your body, then towards your body, parallel to the floor, 3 or 4 times, relatively rapidly but powerfully.
Now you're ready to tell people to go faster while you sit and watch.
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