I’ve now been here in Oudenaarde, Belgium, for the best part of a month and I‘ve settled in pretty well at the Hof ter Kammen. The lads here at the house are great company and we all encourage each other so morale is generally good.
The first few weeks I had to be very patient and wait for my knee to mend. Some really good news though – my injury is now under control.
I went to see a really great guy called Luc Wante – Luc is the coach of Garmin-Sharps’s Sep Vanmarcke, winner of this year’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. He cracked me back into place, straightened me up and told me he thought that I had an ongoing problem probably caused by the accident I had in September with a jeep.
So it was good to finally nail down my problem and I had full confidence in Luc when he told me I could race again in a week or two. However, I’m not 100% fixed as I’m still aware my left leg feels a bit different to my right. But finally I’m able to ride my bike again – that’s the main thing.
After I went to see Luc I did a good solid weeks training and another few days of intensity before I tackled my first “kermesse” in Moorsele.
I was sceptical about how my race would go with such little training in the past month or so, but I surprised myself. As soon as the race started I was almost instantly re-accustomed to the different, crazy, style of racing that Belgium offers.
Bodies everywhere, rain, wind, cobbles, the sound of brakes screeching as we flew through the corners. I thought to myself: “I’m home again”. However crazy Belgium is though – I love it and I’ve missed it very much.
With storm-like conditions we took to the start line to tackle 120km of pain, I rode a good race to be fair and got in a few moves to be chased by some of my Belgian “team-mates”. So team orders are obviously not so strict here! I even had legs enough to try a solo effort from the peloton with 2km or so to go, for roughly 18th place as there was a breakaway. But I was to be caught within the last 300m by a peloton screaming behind me. I was swamped and ended up 36th from 72 starters. So a pretty OK debut into Belgian elite kermesse racing.
Two days later we went to the beach! Not for sun-bathing and relaxing like any normal person would do though. Instead we took to the beach for the exact opposite – another kermesse of death! With only two races on that day the number of starters was up to over 150 riders, the race had two long 2km straights every lap (on the same road) with crosswinds. So the only way to describe the race was “gutter-death”.
Again I felt good. I got into an early breakaway but it was just a little bit too big so half of us decided to take advantage of the group size and leave the same few guys to do all the pulling. We got caught pretty soon afterwards. It was worth a shot though. I finished a solid enough 67th in what was the main peloton, going for a placing in the mid 30s. The average speed for the race was 43.7km/h for roughly 110km. So yeah, it was pretty hard considering it was lined out nearly all the way.
After a few days easy I got called up to ride a Belgian Cup “Zillebeke-Westouter-Zillebeke”; nearly 100 miles, nine bergs, wind, rain, muck…. Another fun day in the saddle! Around 160 riders took to the start-line to brave the elements. The race was rapid as always; line-outs, small lanes, big roads – Belgium continues to surprise me.
A breakaway formed of roughly 20 riders near the town of Kemmel (home of the infamous Kemmelberg) but unfortunately I was to miss it. I got to the finishing circuits with the next group of riders which contained 60-odd guys. Covered in dirt, wet to the bone and to top it off – grit in the mouth (the worst) it was only here I realised I literally had no brake pads left; “Oh sh*t” I yelled coming down one of the descents into a sharp right hander, bumped and bashing everyone around me! “Phew” a sigh of relief… But then I realised I had to do four more laps of these circuits! “Uh oh; This is gonna be fun” I thought.
Somehow I made it to the finish rolling in for 56th place – happy considering it was only my third race as an elite and the fact it was a Belgian Cup with some of Belgium’s biggest amateur teams in the field. I did have to fight a lot stay as close to the front as I could all day so I was more mentally drained at the finish than anything.
I’m still wondering how I didn’t come off but all in all, a great experience and another successful day and some more racing km’s in the legs.
Signs of progression have been showing and that is the most important thing for me; I want to be constantly climbing that ladder. Next up for me is some more classes in the school of hard knocks; Belgian kermesse races before some more Belgian Cups and Interclubs in Flanders! I’m now also working towards a stage race in Spain at the end of September, so hopefully everything will go to plan with that.
Until next time,
Eoin
