Race # 6 Moerbeke U23

Well another day, another race. I was thinking about it and if I had stayed at home I wouldnt have raced yet!?....
It was a fine day for a race in Flanders. The sun was out and the temperature was a balmy 23 but the wind was cruising the strip. I have to do some big mailes in prep for some big races to come so I rode the 25 km the start did the race and rode home making for a solid 5 hours and 170 km day.
The race was a U23 event so the style of racing was a bit different from the Elite races I have been doing. U23 races are fast and ballistic, I guess at my age we have the need to just give it all or nothing all the time. These races are less dominated by tactical sense and more by testosterone and guts. The course was was a tough one with a long climb ending in an 8% section taking almost half the lap, lots of corners on the way down and along the flats and the wind. The climb goes up to the same point as the Muur just from the opposite side. 97 riders took the start and from the gun a small group rolled off the front. None of the guys from the continental teams where in the break so I stayed in the peleton and waited for what i thought would be the real action. Unfortunatly that was the only real action of the day and they ended up staying away til the end. After the break had a minute on the field things started to heat up and I found myself in a strong group of 6 for a couple of laps, but we ended up getting caught by the first half of the peleton so we were about 50 guys. Then another promising split happened of which I was again on the right side, but that only lasted a lap before the bunch rolled back on. The wind was picking up on the climb and it was proving difficult to get away. Finally with 4 laps to go I got away with about 10 others and we stuck it. On the last lap a Bodysol rider attacked on the climb taking one other guys with him, but I was cooked after spending over half the race in breaks and ended up sitting in the group dangling just 100 meters off the two escapees. In the end I sprinted to 22 in the second break, as I said before the original break minus a few guys stayed away for the entire day. I guy from Britian riding for a Microsoft team took the win, his first international victory.
I found out that my brother and sister are coming from Norway to visit for next weekend and to see me race the interclub in Puurs. Should be a good time.
Next race is a pro event on Wednesday. There should be at least 20 pros on the start so it will be a fast 170 km no doubt.