Almost Kermesse Time

Thought I would post a few words as I found a computer to use. No camera hookup so no pics this time.
Things are going well. Went for a couple of hours this morning and checked out the Kermesse course for tomorrow. This will be me first taste of the real strong stuff this year. The interclub was overall harder, but kermesses tend to be none stop attacks and gutter riding so its an intense experience, a quicker death if you will. The course is very typical Belgian kermesse with the start being on the carnival grounds in the town square in Denderhoutem (kermesse is flemish for carnival). Tons of corners, rough roads, road furniture and windy false flats will be the order of the day tomorrow over the 120 km of racing. Legs felt good on a couple of accelerations so I think its going to be a gooder. The weather is even going to top off the experience nicely with wind and a good chance of some rain in the forecast.
I have some more culinary delights to post and some good photos of the ´´Boonen Effect`` in action for all you Boonen fans (Keech and co.)
Spent three hours in the coffee shop today, watched the Romandie stage now I am going to get the bike ready for battle.
All the best at the races for those opening the road season in Alberta at the GP Bici.

Flemish Culinary Delights: Pannenkoek

In Canada we eat a lot of pancakes, but after this version the ones at home will never quite be the same. Here in Belgium pancakes are a common snack served at most eateries. The pancakes at Kaffepotje include only the finest ingredients and are so rich two is enough to fill the craving after a solid training ride. Bert Roesems has made these pancakes famous, swearing by them on his weekly visit when he isn't riding some of the biggest races in the world. This week he is in Romandie and then off to the Giro so I have been making sure to cover for him on the pancake front... Pancakes here are normally served topped with brown sugar. Delicious!

Post ride recovery

Koffie

Euro coffee, nothing else like it.
Coffee here is served on a silver platter with a small peice of cake, chocolate or some type of biscuit.
Kaffepotje is the local tea room where I enjoy this fine brew. This place is owned by Tinos friend Jurgen and is where I spend a great deal of my time. There is a small table at the back beside the kitchen for regulars, many of whom are local pro riders. Bert Roesems (Davitamon - Lotto) is perhaps the best know of the regulars, even Robbie McEwen has been know to stop by for a pancake or two during long rides.

My second home...

Riding...lots

The square in Aalst

Its been one week since I arrived in Belgium and its finally sinking in that I will be here for a while so I am trying to settle into the routine of a full time cyclist again. The last few days have been spent doing rides with various people. One of my teammates has been doing some big miles this weeks so I have been joining him for a few hours out of his six hour days. Tino, my manager and housemate, has been out a few times as well, staying in shape for the weekend VWF series races.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining some pros for their easy day. We met up with a local Colba rider and headed to Aalst to meet up with his Chocolade Jacques buddies. One thing about group riding in Belgium is that the rides dont really meet anywhere, the ride starts are all rolling if you will. Everyone agrees to meet in a certain very general area at a approx. a certain time and via swift on the bike text messaging and calling you eventually all meet up, but like yesterday it can take almost an hour. Once we had everyone together the first order of business was to find a good coffee shop. We found a great little place just off the square in Aalst (about 10 km from where I am living) and all of us piled in and ended up staying for about an hour and a half. Round after round was consumed including the overwhelming ´´coffee of the house`` which included alot more than coffee. Finally after everyone had had their fill it was time for training and we hit up the roads of east Flanders for a few hours.

Today I went to Appels for some speed work. Appels is about 45 min away along the Dender bikepath. Every Tuesday and Thursday hundreds of riders come together between 13:00 and 19:00 to ride a ten km flat circuit on roads that are virtually car free. Its an incredible sight. Today I showed up at the very start of the ride. As you ride around the circuit, which is an out and back with a small loop on either end, riders start to appear alone and in small groups gradually forming a sort of peleton. I joined right in and set myself in the second row just spinning along at a a steady pace. After a lap I looked back and the group had already grown to about 50. Within the hour I was there the group was 100 riders strong with riders coming and going as they pleased. The pace gradually speeds up as the day progresses I learned, so next time I will show up a bit later. Its incredible to see riders of all ages and abilties coming together in this way. You see everyone from the local pros, juniors, cyclotourists and old veterans. The ride is always steady and dictated by the strongest riders or those who want to sit on the front. Usually last year it sat at about 40 but towards evening it is supposed to get even faster.

Other than the riding and coffee drinking I have been watching the first season of Lost. My friends here are crazy about the show, and with all of my spare time I have been catching up on the first season so I can watch the second season Monday evening with them.

This should be a good weekend with racing on Saturday, a 50th wedding anniversary party on Sunday and another race on Monday.

Hol, the second cobbled sector from the race last weekend. This was a tough stretch, the hill is actually alot steeper than it looks in this picture and it continues on after a left turn beyond what you see here. The narrow gravel path you see on the side was ridable until just before the turn, but the risk of flatting plus the dangerous feat of trying to hop back over the nasty edge back into the peleton didnt make it a popular choice in the race.

Race # 1: Grote Prijs Affligem

Your man in Flanders reporting


Got to the business end of things early on with a nice cobbled classic to start of this seasons racing campaign.
This race was held on Sunday and started in beautiful spring sunshine outside the Hekelgem church. To be contested was a race in the famed Belgian interclub series. The past winners of this race include many successful professionals of them Eddy Merckx was twice a winner. On the start line were 200 riders from a host of Belgiums top amatuer outfits, a French team, a Dutch team, US national and 3 continental teams including my old team which is now PictoFlex.
The course was a total of 160 km with two big laps of 50 km and the rest of the race finishing on a 15 km short lap. The course was a tough one with 4 KOM climbs per big lap plus 3 other unclassified climbs. Each lap included 5 km of cobbles spread over three sectors, all uphill. The race started extremely fast, even with the hilly course and the turns (approx; 200 for the entire race) the average speed was 46 km/hr for the first hour and 43 after that. As a goal I knew a finish in this race would not be realistic considering I have no racing speed in my legs and the level of the race so I just wanted to see the short laps. I felt really good on the climbs and the cobbles making up spots there and after the two big laps I was still in the game, but the fun didnt last and I was in the cars at the end of the first short lap and stayed there for another 6 km before I pulled the plug and called it a day. I struggled most when the peleton was single file in the gutter of the flats going 60 km/hr (which it did far to often), racing speed is what I need more of. Our top rider placed 46th, my ex team from last year took the win as well as 3rd and 4th, they are a really strong team this year after making a number of purchases this winter.

All in all I was very happy with the race and so was my team and even my director from last year was somewhat surprised. Looks like the training has done me good and I look forward to the next race, an elite kermesse on Saturday.

Cruising at 50 km/hr after the second cobbled section. I am the one in the drops with the blue shoes.
Ready to roll, Chris skipped the picture, but these are the rest of my mates for the race.

Cobbled sector one, 180 turn at the top to make things interesting. The key was to hit the sidewalk with 500 m to go to the top, cyclocross skills are an asset, I hit up the smooth route every lap and gained a lot of places. If you look closely you can see me in the top right hand corner heading left.

Let the adventure begin!

My home for the next two months

I arrived safely in Brussels on Thursday evening with all of my baggage in tact. My bike box came out on the regular converer belt again and I didnt pay a cent to take it on the plane so the packing job is proven internationally now for all who want to save some money.

I am staying with my team manager Tino in his house in Liedekerke. Its a great location, close to the good roads and close to Kaffepotje (local tearoom, best coffee and pancakes on earth, pancake post to follow). His house is like living in a designer house magazine, its a nice place.

The first couple of days were spent getting my bike together and trying to get my legs back after the long flight. On Saturday I took in a local kermesse were the team (High 5) took the win, third and fourth place.

I have good computer access so updates should come several times per week. Among the posts to come will be a look at Belgian pancakes and coffee as well as a full report from my first race of 2006.

Its great to be in Flanders again.

The bikepath along the Dender river, my regular recovery route.
First things first, what I will be wearing on the roads of Flanders the next 8 weeks.

Norwegian Culinary Delights: Fiskeboller

In this installment of my popular culinary delights column I am proud to introduce you to Fiskeboller, which directly translated is fish balls. These oval balls similar to that of a standard Cadbury Easter egg in size are made with 100% cod fish and as the can proudly states the fish used is "fresh from the icy waters of the north Atlantic". This dish is nothing special in Norway and is consumed as a standard dinner meal regularly by most Norwegians. Although the balls themselves are rather bland the white sauce with shrimp help to add flavor. It is popular to sprinkle curry powder over the finished dish as well which makes for an interesting taste experience. Again, as is the case with most dishes of true Norwegian origin, fiskeboller are served with steamed vegetables and boiled potatoes.

This is likely the last Norwegian Culinary Delights post for a few months as the whirlwinds of bicycle racing are sweeping me off to the heartland of the sport in a matter of days. I won't leave your taste buds hanging though, stay tuned for Flemish Culinary Delights which will explore the rich food culture of Flemish Belgium.

Hushovd Does the Motherland Proud

Congrats to fellow country man Thor Hushovd for taking the Belgian midweek classic Ghent- Wevelgem!

Penticton Training Camp

Riding in the group, very typical of the landscape surrounding Penticton.

I just returned from an excellent training block in beautiful Penticton BC. The week was spent with athletes from the national cycling center here in Calgary and aside from my main objective of training I was also responsible for being the camp mechanic and leading the "A" group along the areas scenic ribbons of tarmac.

The riding was great and I ended up doing everything from timetrials to long hilly rides to repeats up the famed Giant's Head climb, Carmi climb, Anarchist climb and Apex. In total I logged well over 1000km with a great deal of intensity on the climbs. The highlight of the week was the final day of riding on April 1st (my birthday) that included the Iron Man Triathlon loop with the addition of Green Mountain Road and the road up to the Apex ski resort. This final climb took about 1.5 hrs taking us well above the snowline and total climbing on the day ended up being a very solid 3200m.

Along the road up "Anarchist". This climb is 17 km long and steady making it ideal for sustained tempo efforts.

Another view down "Anarchist", notice the fine ribbon of pavement below.

The three muskateers on Anarchist. This trio spent the week off the front on every climb. Daniel on the front is an elite mountain biker from the Yukon who is actively pursuing a spot on Canada's national mountain bike team for the World's this year. Second wheel is Devon, a time trial specialist. Finally the dude in black is me, looking sharp I must say.

At the top of the Rictors Pass.

Thanks to Brian Robinson for providing the great pics. More to come, including the muskateers among the snowdrifts at the top of Apex. Stay tuned.