I was mentally prepared for the cold and typically bad weather that Belgium is most famous for, but spring has only just sprung so how bad could it be. When I first initially wrote the draft for this blog I sat looking out the window watching the snow fall, and boy did it fall, near blizzard like conditions with horizontal snow and near white out conditions.
Recently I have moved from Zottegem to the South East of Belgium to a little town near Kortrijk, right on the edge of the Vlammes Ardennes but also near the French border. It is still flat but at least there are climbs, and cobbled ones too.
With a week quite literally snowed in by a healthy 1'foot of snow at our front door we have been stuck to either the rollers or the erg. The conditions have been made even more challenging by the fact the only English channel we can watch is Discovery Channel. Cabin fever would have set in if we didn't have to walk 10min down the road to the super market.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Especially when there is all this snow here in Belgium and the record summer back home in New Zealand, but I am starting to settle in and get into the simple routine of a full time amateur in the epi-centre of cycling. Wake up - Eat - Ride - Eat - Recover - Sleep.
Our teams main focus of races starts in May and pushes right through to July before we then later prepare for the Pro circuit of Kermesse races in September to close out the season. However I have been able to get a couple of races done. My first race was a few days after my arrival. We raced up the Kemmelberg, a famous cobbled climb and the other surrounding climbs in the area in some very cold condition. The Kemmelberg is challenging when you don't know the climb expect for what you see on t.v. but for me was made harder when chasing back on from a couple of rookie crashes.
Recently, with the weather slowly starting to clear and become more consistent I went out and explored the local roads and find the Vlammes Ardennes. The only way to beat the cold is wrap up and wear as much as possible. Warmth is the my main priority and help me to stay on the bike for as long as possible. The plan was to get lost, see what I could find. Once I reached some elevation I was able to get my bearing and had a general idea of headings. Hopefully this link will work: http://app.strava.com/activities/44781377
With the weather being a lot more typical of Belgium and not apocalyptic snow storms, training is regaining its structure and there will be plenty of time to continue preparations for the race schedule to truly kick off.
For now I quietly tick away finding new things to keep me busy and more books to read.
Stay tuned.
T
