Race # 4: Pamel Kermesse

Christophe drives the pace over the second climb, I am moving to the front on the right to join him for the headwind false flat at the top.

Saturday I did a little local kermesse to fill in the gap in the calender as this past weekend was Provincial championship weekend in Belgium and as a foreign rider I was not allowed to take the start. A number of my teammates also elected to do this race as the chances of us taking home the top spot were high. This race was part of a racing series that is kind of like what a typical Alberta Cat 1-2 race would be. Only 45 riders took the start of the 12 lap 72 km race. It was a great circuit with two climbs and lots of high speed sections. I started out well and was at the front from the gun and got in the days first real move with my teammate Loco after about 3 laps. After only about 1 km of off the front action I heard the sound every rider dreads when the legs are good, I got a flat. The break only had about 10 seconds at this point so I pulled over and was getting ready to walk back to the finish as there were no cars in the race and the only wheel pit was about another km down the road. Just as I pulled over a teammate who was just watching the event as he is currently suffering from bronchitis rolled up gave me his wheels and a sold push start and I was back in the game chasing like mad. After one lap I caught the field again, but at this point I was pretty spent so I sat in for a couple of laps before returning to the front. There was alot of action all day, but in the end Loco and Christophe got in the winning move. I tryed in vain to bridge and ended up in a second chase with my teammate Mario. Our group got caught about 2 laps before the finish. I knew i wouldnt be able to contest a bunch sprint so I lauched with everything I had for 7th place 500 meters from the line to try to go solo, but I was swallowed up after only 100 meters and ended up somewhere near the back of the bunch sprint. It was a good training day and I know that without the wasted energy of the flat I could have done much better. Congrats to Loco for taking his second win in a row.

Chasing back on after the flat

All photos thanks to http://jodeconinck.fotopic.net/c949253.html