Hello again from flanders. It feels like the last time that I wrote was about two weeks ago, but I guess it was just last week. Life in Belgium carries on with a sort of mind numbing rhythm. We train, race, eat, watch a movie, sleep, do it again. We have been doing kermesses recently as the UCI schedule for us has slowed down. We have a super full calendar in august, so I think all of the guys will get their fill of racing.

On a note other than bike racing, I was riding through the woods near St. Maria-Aalter yesterday with Nat. We came upon a group of about fifteen women aged 45-55 riding somewhere…I have no idea where. When we rode up to them they were in two lines taking up the entire path. As soon as they realized that we needed to pass, the lady in the back yelled and with no hesitation the group was single file. I could not believe it, I mean these women were on city bikes…going to who knows where on a Tuesday. The thing is that people here ride bikes their ENTIRE lives, EVERY day. I think that is really cool. Maybe if America were Belgium…well forget that. Lets just say that so many people on bikes is pretty cool, all of them completely understand what it means to ride, and race…whether they have done it in the past or not.

OK, now to the racing. Last Sunday the espoir aged riders rode down to Aarsele for an espoir only kermesse. An espoir kermesse in Belgium is actually called a “beloften” kermesse. I was previously un-aware, but according to Jed…”beloften” actually means “hope” or something similar. That is pretty cool, I suppose that the young riders are the “hope” of the future. We rode to the race, paid 4 euro…yes 4 EURO’S…and got the number pinned on to race. I found myself in a group of 9 chasing three leaders. The three leaders would never come back, and I didn’t quite have the legs or the head to finish with a good result. I am learning a lot over here…being strong is only half the battle…I probably could have contended for 4th, but I did to much before things really mattered. When there are no big huge hills, and you are forced to make quick decisions and conserve energy, it is a tough time for someone who lacks experience with the small stuff. I finished the race 12th. That is fine, but I know that I could have been more fresh at the finish simply by using my head better.

Next race. Yesterday, a beloften kermesse in Oostkamp. Oostkamp is like the bigger city right up the road from Hertsberge, we know that when we race there a good result is a must. I set out to make sure that I did whatever I could to be smart in the first half of the race. not doing to much, and yet making sure that I was watching the race. A big group of about 25 rolled off the front with me in it. Nat was also there with me, so this time we could try to help each other out and go for a big finish. The group was big and pretty calm. A group of three stayed out for a long time, and we caught them with about 4 to go. Now our job was to get into the next good moves. The thing is that nothing really got away, it was more like the bigger group spliting into two groups. I was usually in the second…maybe because I didn’t make the right decisions. I had more left today, and I was able to get back in the race on a few occasions. Unfortunately on the last lap, I was chasing onto the group while the winning break of four took off. I got into the group and went straight through. In a group of about four, we chased for half a lap, and finished a bit ahead of “the group”. I finished 8th. That is fine, but I should have been able to use my energy even better than I did. One of these days, I will hit it on the nose and get that big result.

If it seems like I am being really vague with my reports, it is because racing kermesses is super confusing. I mean to remember more detail is almost impossible. There are attacks everywhere, and usually accelerations by the field bring them back….over and over until the race is splitting up and the real break is formed. I don’t think a kermesse has ever finished in a field sprint. The racing is really hard. A bunch of corners, a ton of accelerations, and smaller fields (60-70). With small fields…there are fewer places to hide, and it pretty much goes real fast for 120k. If you came over here to race and did kermesses the entire year, you would become one heck of a strong and super smart bike racer. I didn’t mention that the races cost around 5 euro…and you get back 2.50 when you turn in your number. The races often pay 30 deep…I got 37 euro for 8th yesterday. That isnt so bad, a lot better than some races in the good old US of A where it costs….choke…cough…cringe….dry heave…$35 USDollars to enter! Ouch, I don’t miss that.

I think that about does it for my weekly ranting…I hope that I have given you a good idea of what is going through my head while I am here…don’t forget that all of this stuff is just what I see and feel…it doesn’t mean that what the next guy thinks…and it certainly doesn’t mean that I am right about all this stuff. This is the experience of my life, and bike racing aside, worth all the hard times. I will keep doing my part here, I hope that when I right you again I will have a better, more interesting story to tell! Keep racing hard and don’t lose sight of whats important…riding bikes!

bryan