Kermess Racing

Two weeks have passed since I have first stepped into Belgium. It has been one adventure after another. Tuesday I launched a hot air balloon with Ruben, Rein, Ruben’s brother Dieter and their friend Jürgen who owns the balloon. We launched the balloon after dinner on one of the most peaceful evenings. There was a light wind that was blowing from the southwest. The balloon traveled from Gent to the Holland border, where we packed the balloon up in a grassy field. The evening was so relaxing and peaceful. Ruben got to be the passenger in the balloon for the flight, seeing the peaceful Belgian villages from above. I can only imagine how Ruben must have enjoyed the flight. April 30th was and is Ruben’s birthday, happy birthday Ruben.
Belgian rainbows are beautiful; unfortunately they mean it is raining somewhere and that somewhere is usually where I am riding. The UCI 1.5 race in Hoboken went well. At the race I met the core of the Royal Antwerp club since the race was just outside Antwerp. They were happy to have me on the team; the positive feeling I received helps me feel more at home and able to focus on my training. The race started as soon as it started raining. The course stared with three large laps of sliding chaos through twisting roads and traffic islands. The smooth flowing European peloton was able to survive without any major mishaps. The rain stopped for the eight finishing laps. The finishing laps were small roads with lots of turns and a long tail wind section followed by some rough cobbles and a very short up hill. Luckily most Belgians can’t go up hills. The tail wind section was so fast we would be spinning out our biggest gear; the group would fly onto the cobbles. The cobbles would bring us to a stop and the course would u-turn onto a short hill and then turn into a head wind. This section was very tough but luckily most people were exhausted and I was able to leave my group with two laps to go. A small chase group formed around me including two of my teammates. We held off the field and almost caught a large group in front of us. My teammates in my group placed well in the sprint to finish 24th and 28th; I was drained and came in 31st, one place out of a small result. Two other of my teammates rode well placing sixth and sixteenth. It was a good day in Hoboken with my new team riding aggressively; hopefully it will be a successful season for my team and myself. This weekend I am racing for three straight days making my own mini stage race of kermesses, to help me train for up coming challenges.