Photo links

My Blogging is lacking I tend to tire myself out to much to think about blogging. Here are some links.

Pictures and some results of the races

Zele 7/12/2009

Photos http://www.cyclingnews.nu/fotopaginas%202009/ZeleHeikant12-07-2009.htm#Zondag

Results http://www.cyclingnews.nu/uitslagen/2009/Zele12-07-2009.pdf

Sinaai 7/13/ 2009

Photos http://www.cyclingnews.nu/wedstrijdverslagen%20weg%202009/Sinaai13-07-2009.htm#13

Wachtebeke 7/14/2009

Photos http://www.cyclingnews.nu/wedstrijdverslagen%20weg%202009/Wachtebeke14-07-2009.htm#14

Results http://www.cyclingnews.nu/uitslagen/2009/WachtebekeOudeSluis14-07-2009.pdf

My Pictures from to and from Wachtebeke

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2394795&id=6228845&ref=mf

Borsbeke 7/19/2009

Photos http://www.cyclingnews.nu/fotopaginas%202009/Borsbeke19-07-2009.htm#Zondag

Strijpen 7/20/2009

Results http://www.cyclingnews.nu/uitslagen/2009/Strijpen20-07-2009.pdf

Reid’s blog he I keeping up with the daily reports

http://bigwatts.blogspot.com/

Belgium 2009

So last year I was going to blog about my 2008 week to Belgium. I posted one blog after my first race and then contacted my friend Kenneth and went out until 4am. The week of 2008 was full of great results, late nights, drinking and good times.

Maybe this year I will blog about my 2009 Belgian trip, it is the same week that I came last year so a chance at the same races. So far, it is a different trip. I am staying at Kenneth’s new apartment in Balegem, Be. It is located just north of the Flemish hills, perfect for exploring and training on the RvV (Tour of Flanders) hills and course. The town is a lot quieter than Gent.

Kenneth and his girlfriend have been taking care of us and it is an amazing trip, strait into the culture of the country. Catching up with Kenneth’s family has been great; they are some of the most generous people I have ever met.

Last year I was returning form my suspension and had been putting some huge endurance training, and I put out some strong results for my one week in Belgium. In the past, it took me two weeks to finish a Belgian race. I love racing in Belgium I feel the strongest rider always wins.

This year I have been going well in the USA, so the races in Belgium I felt would go better but the styles are to different and I am missing the fire I had last year. The weeks leading up to the 2009 Belgian trip were very stressful and my training was not as I would have liked. I thought I would be okay.

So far, I have been tired. The lacks of training and mistakes have delivered what I see as poor performances. Sunday we raced in Zele, Be. We left late to the race and I jammed up there. Then once in Zele I was unable to find the race and it demoralized me. We found the race 30min after I thought I started but they said we had 10min until the start. In the race I felt great and made, what I thought would be the break to the finish but I weakened due to lack of water because of not preparing correctly after being late. My final group was going for something in the teens but I did not contest due to the disappointment.

Monday I returned to Sinaai for the same course I place 7^th the year before, Kenneth drove us to the race so I felt the pressure was on but my mind was not in it and I was feeling the 140miles that I did on Sunday. I sat last wheel for the first four laps and then moved up to just miss the move. I rode until two laps to finish and I thought my group was going for something in the 20s so I quit. I was a bit upset with myself. The race was won by Guy Smet winner of the 2008 Tour de Faso, I would have been lucky to hold his wheel on a good day. Last year at this race, I had a norm power of 304 and average of 284. This year my power meter broke in the race due to the rough roads but it would have been lucky to have an average power of 240.

Tomorrow is another day

New Goals, back in America

Welcome back to the United States of America; it is a big change to be home. Life in Europe is very different to that of life in the United States. It feels good to be home, but I miss Europe very much. My trip to Europe to race my bike was an amazing experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. The trip did not accomplish the cycling goals I was hoping for. The broken collarbone and other set backs kept me from reaching my goals and peak potential. At some points it was very difficult to be in races that normally I would love and excel at to only be struggling to hold onto the group. The trip did teach me a lot about life and the importance of patience and the ability to pick yourself up when your down. I made many new friends that hopefully I will keep in touch for life.
Let me catch you up with what I have been up to since I last updated my web page. This week I started with The Atlas Funding Company, a full service mortgage provider specializing in residential, commercial purchases, refinance, and second mortgages. I am hoping to be able to be able to train and earn money with this commission-based job to support my cycling lifestyle. The new job is an exciting opportunity and I hope it is able to work out for me.
I have been very busy since I have been home, catching up with old and new friends. I have been working a lot for Mack Employment in the hospitality temp department. I have fun working all the different catering events and they were happy when I called to tell them I was coming home. I tried to give up cycling for a bit when I arrived home so I would have time for other opportunities in my life. I am now back training for next year with a goal of qualifying to ride the Olympic trials. It is unfortunate now that professional cyclists are now able to ride the Olympics; it takes away the main focus amateur athletes like myself used to strive to obtain.

Tearin up Paris

Paris was awesome, it was super buisy and I believe I saw all the important sights. 5 in the morning as I was about to leave for the Paris train I got e-mail from my fiend Alison. It had contact info for our high school friends that were living in Paris Claire and Chris Natale’s. I sent then both a message. Then raced off for the train. I was one minute late for the train in Damport and two minutes late for the train in Saint Peters. Luckily there was another train leaving at 6:30 that would arrive at 7:00 in Brussels Midi. My TGV left at 7:10 for Paris Nord. I met Marc at the train station and the adventure began. We found a cheap but nice hotel near the Bastille and dropped off our stuff. We then checked e-mail and contacted his friends. Luckily Claire had e-mailed me back. It was especially lucky because the e-mail I had sent didn’t go to her but a work mate who forwarded it to her. Amazing and she wanted to meet us at the Pantheon at 6:45. Marc’s French girls that he had met while in New Zealand were to meet us at 8:45. We then went sight seeing and saw the Luve the Plastecondorde the Arc de Triumph and the Champsilyse. It was tiring so we went home for a nap and then went out to meet our friends.

Dam Bike

I am ready for the season to be over and to be back in the US. The weather here has been acting strange. It was 25 C yesterday and now it is windy and cooler. I am really burnt of racing and just want to relax and sight see the rest of the trip. I have decided I hate my team bike and can’t wait to give it back. Tomorrow I am going to Antwerp with Brian and Miska. My friend Marc is coming up from France to spend the night and also head to Antwerp. It should be a fun and relaxing trip. I race with the team in a PRO Kermess on Thursday and will hopefully find a good time to return my bike. Friday I will travel to Paris and hang with Marc and hopefully do so good sight seeing. It should be a buisy last couple of weeks.

Team Snow Valley enjoys Belgium racing

My guests have gone back to the United States. I believe they enjoyed their trip and accomplished most of there goals. I had an enjoyable time showing them around and helping them out. This past month has been moving incredibly fast, I only have two weeks left before I am home. I am looking forward to arriving home and seeing everyone but I know I will miss Europe. Someday I will find my way back to but at this point I am not sure when.
While my guests were here we mostly did kermesse racing. My team from Antwerp was hoping to be racing in France but they are also having a disappointing year of bad results and may not have gotten the invites.
The last kermesse I did with Scott was in Merelbeke. The race started aggressively with everyone marking Scott, after two weeks they had found out how strong he is. Unfortunately 1/3 of the way into the race Scott’s frame cracked on the down tube at the cable bosses, causing him to abandon the race. Also during this race I felt a small hint of my old form and raced aggressively but since I seem to be missing acceleration I was not able to drop the people marking me. At the finish of the race I was pleased with my performance but the back of my right arm felt like it was being stung by bees, I think it was a nerves and muscles that are rebuilding because of my broken collarbone. I still do not trust my right arm to do what I want because of the sharp pains that come out of nowhere.
The other races that my guests and I did were not so exciting for me. I would try to play an aggressive role early and when I would see the strong break go up the road I would tell Scott and he would attack with me on his wheel and I would let a gap so he was able to cross alone and then ride away with the stronger riders. Since I have been here all season riders tend to mark me because they know sometimes I ride strong. Since they didn’t know Scott yet they wouldn’t follow him so closely. Scott rode well while he was here with his worse place being an 12th and best being a 4th. I think the best and most successful way to come to race in Europe is a quick planned trip where you are in shape and focused.
Finding junior races for Adam was interesting. At first I was not sure what he would be able to do but I talked to my Antwerp teammates and found out that he could only race junior races. Luckily the first junior race I found was near Gent. At race sign in we quickly found out that there was more to a junior racing than elite. In Belgium juniors are only aloud to race twice a week; to enter you must have a calendar card that gets stamped at each race. Luckily the officials knew me from the elite races and they found away for Adam to enter since he was only staying of 10 days. Please check out my friend’s journal entries to see what Adam thought of European racing

Healthy Lungs

I have just had visitors for two weeks. It was a good time. I finally felt healthy in the sinus and lungs around the time the arrived. The racing went well while they were here with some constant results and a hint of my old strengths. It is really a shame that my form is coming around now. The season is over I am not sure if my team will be doing any more races. I guess I will do kermesses but I can’t seem to take too many of them seriously. I am just making the most of the trip. It is really a shame that my racing didn’t work out and the trip was difficult. I learned a lot from all the difficulties. I feel I see the world from a different view and hopefully it will help me make better decisions in my life. I really enjoyed my time here and I hope I can come back some day.

Team Snow Valley Visits Belgium

I have two friends visiting from the States for the next week. They are both members of the Snow Valley armature team based out of Maryland. The first to arrive here in Belgium was Adam Steelman, he is 18 and resides in Manassas Virginia. His training area in Northern Virginia is where I first found my love of road biking. Finding junior races here for him has been a little challenging but hopefully he will benefit from the experience. My second guest Is Scott Zwizanski, hi is 26 and resides in West Chester Pennsylvania. I know Scott from my college racing days. He attended West Virginia University. I am enjoying exposing them to Belgian culture and racing.
My last race was a stage race in South East Flanders. The race was very challenging. The first day I felt strong and finished in the main pack in the morning road race that went over 6 major burgs. The afternoon time trial went well also. This time I chose not to use a one of my team’s time trial bikes. No need for a mechanical with a bike I am not used to. I felt strong on my road bike and was pleased because I caught the rider that started one minute in front of me. The second day of racing did not go so well. It was an intense race that went up a burg almost every 6 km. With the rainy weather my nerves were not daring enough to risk another crash and I soon found myself at the back because I was using my brakes too much.

The Muur de Gramont

Today I raced against Peter Van Peteghem of Lotto Domo, Andreas Klier of Team Telekom and Geert Omloop of Collstrop the Belgiam professional champion. It was a tough race that blazed through the center of Geraardsbergen. Up the paved lower section of the Muur de Gramont a famous hill in Flanders. It was beautiful race and I just wish I could get some condition, many of the riders that were attacking and making the race were ones that I consider myself equal to when I am in form. I have been training hard my body just doesn’t seem to want to respond in a positive way. My chiropractor noticed on Monday that my heart was beating a little odd. I listened to it and it was strange; maybe I am fatigued and need some time off the bike but I will deal with them once I am home in the States.
Sunday I raced my teams race Vlaamse Havenpiljs, a race through all of the major Flemish ports here in Belgium. Starting in seaport of Zeebruge and going past the seaport in Gent and finishing at the seaport in Antwerp. It was a beautiful point-to-point race and went with in one Kilometer of where I am living in Gent. It entered Antwerp under the Schelde through a tunnel that is only open to bike traffic for this race. It was an amazing feeling to race past all the cars waiting for the tunnel. The passengers of the cars wee making the best of it and cheering us on and seemed to be having a good time. I really enjoyed the race and felt strong riding over the cobbled section in the top ten of the pack chasing and closing in on the break away. Unfortunately my luck was not good and I seemed to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was stuck in the last pack no matter how hard I tried.
Thursday the 21st I raced the Wondelgem Kermes. This race is close to where I live and also races past the Boone farm where I spent my time in Belgium last year. It is a race of the foreigners. The Boone brothers have two very different teams Staf runs an English speaking team and his brother runs a team consisting of eastern Europeans. In this race the teams compete and the race is nicknamed the Boone World Championships. I fortunately followed the few Belgian in the race and we rode away from the wheel sucking foreigners and I was able to get an eighth place, my first top ten of the season.

Smelling the Poppies on the Kemmelburg

The Kemmelburg is a tough climb and doing it twice doesn’t make it any easier. I raced with my team Royal Antwerp Bicycling Club the oldest bicycling club in Belgium. The race was in West Flanders through the part were much of the World War I battles were fought. I didn’t have much time to look at the scenery and battle monuments because the race was strait to business. A 30-man group rolled away on the small roads and the chase was erratic. Two of my teammate made the move. A Belgian teammate Jan and my friend Brian, the group gained one minute thirty by the time the reached the Kemmel burg for the first pass. Brian tells me the front group attacked the climb hard and his pneumonia caught up with him and he was not able to recover over the top. The main packs assent of the Kemmel burg was a slower and guys were falling off their bike because of the steepness and rough terrain. The race was single file after the climb and the descent was the scariest part. The downhill is shorter and steeper than the way up and is also cobbled. Looking down the top of the decent of the Kemmel burg is like being o top of the big roller coaster hill and it is a wild ride down also. The race was over rolling terrain for the rest of the course. We ascended the Kemmel burg a second time and then finished in Wervik. I did not feel good the whole race and was just happy with my fitness. It has been very difficult since I broke my collarbone I seem to be hitting a lot of little problems that are keeping me from having a successful come back this year.

Euro Heat Wave

I have crashed again, on Friday in a 1.6 UCI race Antwerp Tielen. It was a silly crash; a few riders got their bikes stuck together and fell over. It was the kind of crash I have gone around many times. I tapped my breaks and swerved around the fallen riders, unfortunately one of the bikes flew up and hit me in the side knocking me over. I landed on my right side where I had broken my collarbone. Luckily I landed safely and only received some scrapes and bruises but I didn’t feel like chasing down the 60-km/hr pack so my race was over.
I have been having a tough time sleeping during the heat wave here. I have to wait until late at night when it has cooled off and I am not sweating so much to fall asleep. It is not so bad to fall asleep at that time because I get to fall asleep to the sweet smell of baking bread thanks to the two bakeries on my street.

Racing Van Petegram and Tom Steels in a Professional Kermesse

Speed is the name of the game. Today I raced a professional kermesse in Heusden just outside of Gent. The race was full of big time professionals. The race was single file from the start and with the heat beaming down it was only a matter of time until the weak cracked. The streets were lined with fans such an atmosphere made it inspiring to race. I unfortunately was pulled out of the race early but still finished about 60th out of 150 starters. The remaining field of about 30 riders had all the some of the big hitters still remaining. Riders like Mario Willems and the others I face in kermesses were driving the pace and inflicting pain on to riders like Peter Van Petegram and Tom Steels. Tom Steels won the sprint finish.
The past week has been very rough. I have had a head cold and it has really made my racing suffer It seems like this year is full of a lot of small problems that are really making it difficult. My friend Dan headed home last Wednesday, it was good to have him here. We had some really fun times and his three-week visit seemed to go very quickly. Dan had a local college student roommate living in Staf Boone’s house while he was there. She did not know anything about the bike racing culture here in Belgium and got a crash course from the riders. My favorite observation that she made was about how strange it was in a house full of guys they though about bikes more than girls.

Miss Belgium

Today I started my first kermesse in a few weeks. A Miss Belgian finalist was there handing out our start numbers. With 150 starters at the race I felt pretty strong. When the main break rolled up the road without me I decided to bridge across. I couldn’t believe the small group I was with made it across. My head has not been in the racing game lately; I have been distracted by other problem and a little fear of getting crushed by the tough Belgian racers. I quit the race at the 2-hour mark. With only 30 minutes left in the race I am sure I will be finishing soon.
Today I went to see a chiropractor about a popping hip I have been ignoring since December. I believe he will be able to fix it with the information he gave me and the quick back straitening felt good since my back gets quite compacted from the rough Belgian roads.
I would also like to thanks Ruben, Rein and Rein’s family for being so supportive of me here in Belgium. I would also like to thank all my friends for helping me get through a troubled time.

Pickle and I Visit Wild Bill in Amsterdam

The new season starts now. I have just returned form a short trip to Amsterdam. I traveled up to Amsterdam to visit my friend Wild Bill and show another friend Dan the sights. I feel the trip was very relaxing mentally because I started my racing season last year with a plane flight to Amsterdam and a train ride to Gent. I just hope the rest of the season here can be successful as last year and the small reenactment of last year season start may help me get past the mental block that has formed from the injury and lack of racing.
Dan is a friend from Reading; I helped him find a place to stay here in Gent so he could try the European racing scene for three weeks. He is enjoying his time here. I have tried to ride him to some of the famous sights around Gent. It is really good to see people from home.
Racing and training is tough when you are alone. My long time girlfriend Kathryn Ruscio has finally broken away from me. We have been fading apart since I started this crazy cycling adventure in the spring of 2001. It is tough to be training hard and preparing like normal when everything is not. Kathryn was very special to me but our paths in life did not go the same way. I am glad she has the strength to be on her own; I just wish I were so strong. Good luck Kathryn be safe and travel wisely.

Training with the Flemish Cycling School and CSC in Luxembourg

I’m back; almost I spent last week training hard. I was in Luxembourg camping with some friends Kenneth, Dina and Jimmy at Dina’s family campsite. Jimmy and I were training with the Flemish cycling school, where Kenneth’s father is a coach. It was an incredible week. We would ride twice a day over rolling train. The hills felt so good after spending all this time in east Flanders where it is flat terrain. I learned a look and improved my fitness greatly while in Luxembourg. The last day of the camp we rode with the CSC professional cycling team the riders that were not participating in the Tour de France. One of the coaches of the cycling school had ridden for CSC so he knew they were in town and arranged for us to ride with them. We met up with them while they were already training. They were training in two groups of five doing long individual efforts while the cycling school did a rotating pace line behind. We were unable to meet the riders but some of the more famous ones there where Andre Taffi, Tristian Hoffman and Julian Dean. It was amazing to see how the team trained.
On Friday the 18th I meet up with my Royal Antwerp team to start a Stage race in the Ardennes. Tour de La Province de Liege, what a tough race and I went into it tired. I was hoping to finish and gain some good fitness from it. The first day I was dropped on the second climb 40 km into the race but I was able to organized my group and we caught back up to the main pack with 15 km to go. The second stage I was able to hang in until the finishing circuits where the big team turned up the speed and “put the race in the gutter”. The single file riding at speed was to much and I couldn’t hold on with 22 km to go. The third day the race was fast and was in a single file line for most of the day I made it 85 km before I ended my race. I was disappointed with not finishing but after a hard week of training in the hills what should I expect when every one else is fresh. The final day of the race I trained for one hour and rode up the famous climb La Radoute. It was amazing to ride up a climb where many Liege – Bastone - Liege classic races have been decided.
I have returned home to Gent feeling tired and fit. Gentse Fest is also happening in gent and I have taken some rest time to see it. The Belgians really know how to party. I have never seen anything like it. a 24 hour party for 10 days, it is something that must be seen with your own eyes. I hope to be racing well soon but this coming back from injury is really tough on the brain and I am having a tough time mentally believing I will ride well again this year.

Biken to the Tour de France

Everything is well it was 230 km just to the Charleville – Mèziéres and I did not make it to the Finish in Sedan. I arrived in Charleville – Mèziéres just as Bradley MeGee the Yellow Jersey was walking into his hotel. I snapped a few shots of him drinking a beer and then explored the town. They were already setting up for the next morning. I found a quiet place to sleep for the night since all the hotels were taken up by the race.
Sundays race also went smoothly, it was a good course. I felt strong the whole time I raced. I completed one hour of racing because that was my small goal and it also started to rain a little and I did not want to risk crashing. The race was fast just like all races here and I was able to sit in with no problem I even tried a few jumps and turns at the front. The only problem had was standing up to sprint up hill my collarbone just did not feel solid enough. I was pleased with my performance and look forward to improving into some good results for the end of the season.
I awoke at 5:30 in Charlevill – Mèziéres and started to watch the start of the stage unfold. Already the town was quite buisy. By 10:30 the streets were packed for the 1:30 start. The Tour de France is serious business. The amount of work that goes into a stage start is amazing. a small city was built in the center of the towns main square just to feed the staff that was to work the race. Companies that sponsor the Tour us ever possible promotional scheme giving away free product, newspapers about their product, floats blaring music and flashy dancers. The riders are protected from the fans by barriers so they can prepare for the race in some kind of peace. When the riders roll up to sign in the crowd screams for autographs and there favorite riders. The Yellow Jersey gets the biggest cheer and then Lance and Jan Ulrich. A whisper goes through the crowd “it’s Richard, it’s Richard” and then a big cheer when it is Richard Virenque. The 1:30 start came quickly and before I knew it the riders were off. At 2:00 I started my ride back to Gent Belgium. the trip was worth while just to see the tour and the long rides were excellent training. I now have some great base miles I just have to get my race speed and confidence back and I will be ready to go.

Back from Injury

This morning I noticed a marker on my block, marking the spot where a V1 bomb hit during world War II. I found it really interesting that a small bit of history like that is remembered so close to where I am staying here in Gent. I am starting my first race back from injury this afternoon in Merelbeke a 117 km kermesse. I hope my legs don’t explode like the V1 bomb. Actually I feel really good I have been training hard for a little over two weeks. On Monday I am going to ride down to the Belgian border to watch the Tour de France stage finish in Sedan and then find somewhere to sleep so I can watch the stat the next day. I think this will be good training since it is some where’s around 200 km each way. wish me luck.

Family Time While Seeing the Sights

Four weeks since my crash and I am almost fully healed I am just waiting for the doctor to say I am ready to go. I have been running and riding lightly to keep myself in shape. Time away from racing is hard since I came to Europe just to race. Fortunately my parents came to visit at just the right time. They arrived two weeks after my injury just as I was starting to feel better. I was able to do a lot of touristy things with my parents that I would not have been able to do if I had been racing. We had a very buisy but relaxing vacation. We did a whirlwind tour of the Ben-Lux countries with a little excursion into Germany and a small part of France. It took my mind away from the boredom of thinking, when I can race next.

The Crash

Monday, June 02, 2003
I have been sitting in Ruben and Rein’s house for 4 days now with my broken collarbone. It is very boring to be in a country to race and not be able to ride a bike. I would love to travel also but it is just too hard to move and it is also hard to shower. On Wednesday I will see the doctor again and hopefully he will say I am healing fast
On Thursday at Hasselt spa Hasselt I was racing well and felt really good my legs were just starting to come around. I had made the front group. I was very thirsty and wanted a feed bad. I left a lot of space between my teammate and I in the break. Other riders were doing very strange things in the feed swerving every which way and looking backwards. It is hard to find my soginer Tom because he always seems to be hiding while giving out feeds. I spotted him just as my teammate Paul was receiving his feed. Paul had almost stopped to get the feed. I didn’t want to have to chase after the feed so I was moving fast. Tom watched as Paul rode away and didn’t look for me so I yelled his name so maybe I would get the feed. Tom had the feedbags in his left hand near the ground. He grabbed one and moved it quickly from left to right. It looked to me that it was ether going in my wheel or hitting my handle bars. I thought I could save myself by grabbing it and razing it above my bars. But Tom had the bag so low that I grabbed the top of the string and could not raise it fast enough. it slammed my bars and I lost control landing on my head and shoulder breaking the collar bone and scrapping up my right side. It was a horrible day.

Fallin Down and a Broken Collar Bone

It has been four days since I broke my collarbone. It is very hard not being active like normal. The pain is not that great any more and the road rash is healing quickly. On Wednesday I see the doctor again to get my harness adjusted and a real prediction for when i can be back on the bike. I am hoping to be training outside in about 2 weeks. My parents are arriving in a little over a week so it will be good to see the family.
This all happened last Thursday the 29th at Hasselt Spa Hasselt a very good race. I had been near the front of the race for most of the day when I came into the feed zone at 120 km of the 166 km race. People were doing strange things in the feed zone this day I think it may have been because of the heat. I left a big gap between my teammate and I so we both could get our bags. I spotted our team soungier just as he was passing the muset to my teammate. Tom our soungier watched my teammate ride off and didn’t look down the road for me so I shouted his name. To pass the bags the soungier is supposed to hold the bags in his right hand high in the air so we can grab the sting where we need to while at high speed. Tom still had all the bags in his left hand while I was coming and he quickly switched one from left to right and it was swinging right for my front wheel or handle bars I though my only hope was to grab the bag and lift it up so it would miss. I was not fast enough and ended up on my head and shoulder breaking my collarbone and looking very stupid. This is the first bone I have ever broken so it is very an unknown recovery for me I hope it goes smoothly. so far it has been boring. I do not like sitting around and doing nothing. I hope I will be back racing soon.