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.