i didnt wear my addiscombe jersey because it was very wet and muddy from the crash the day before, but i wore the shorts.
so the race got underway with about 50 starters, all juniors, and i was determined to make something of it both in a result, and for training. it was 50 miles, about 4 miles per lap, which went through a town center where the finish was, and then out into the country a bit, onto some really small lanes with dikes and ditches either side, which made the pack very sketchy especially in the strong blustery winds. the finishing straight was packed with spectators for the whole race which gave the race an amazing atmosphere. even along the more baron stretches of the course there were a number of people
for the first 2 laps i stayed in the middle of the pack, well sheltered and waiting to see how the pace was. it was pretty hot, but not as hard as the day before...probably due the the absence of a couple of future track stars!
3 laps in and 15 riders had broken away off the front. they had about 200m on the rest of the pack. at the end of the 3rd lap, along the finishing straight, i made my move to get over to the break. i started hammering it but i was towing about 10 people with me. then a couple of riders, including one of the english guys, jack, attacked from behind me. i knew i had to get onto there wheels, but they were about 30m ahead of me. i put in another dig and dropped the other riders. i had to push my self as hard as i ever have done before to get onto the other 2 riders wheels. after what seemed like a lifetime i managed it. i was pretty exhausted to i just sat on and let the other 2 do the work to get over to the brake away.
i rested for a couple of miles then started working hard. there were about 6 of us doing most of the work. on some parts of the course it was easier to be part of the through and off because you could get good shelter from the eshalon (spelling?), that formed across the road. the riders towards the back got almost no shelter because they had to stick to a single line. for the next few laps the average speed went up to 26mph, so it was pretty savage and we dropped a few riders
once the brake away was properly established, and the peleton was out of sight we settled into a rhythm, and i started to enjoy the experience- the crowds cheering us along, the commentary over the loud speaker, and occasionally hearing my name spoken in it. it was just fantastic. there was a preme every lap, so i went for one of them and came 3rd, which got me some money, but it took a lot out of me so i didnt go for any more of them.
midway through the races and it started to snow heavily. the other riders stopped working for some reason, and only 3 of us were left doing a through and off. i didnt mind too much as i was enjoying my self to much. one of the other guys that was working was saying we were the beasts of the group, and they were the girls
. after a while the other 2 riders were getting pretty frustrated and shouting belgian obscenities at the other riders. i went for a more light hearted approach and started shouting go in as many languages as possible, french, german, spanish, belgian and english. this got everyone laughing and in better spirits and people started working again. a couple of times riders attacked, but it all came to nothing, and a couple of times i attacked to try and shake off the people sitting in, but again it came to nothing.
after what seemed like no time at all there was only 4 laps to go, about 16 miles. by this time i was starting to tire somewhat and i was paying the price for my work earlier on. it was then that one of the riders that had been sitting in the whole time attacked after a preme and managed a good gap. unfortunately he had 3 team mates in the group who had been doing a lot of the work with me and a few others, so the pace slowed right down and i knew it was un likey we would get him back.
then with 2 laps to go 4 riders, who had also been sitting in the whole time attacked and managed to get about 100m on us. we were not going to let them go, and we bought them back pretty quickly, but it was hard work, and i was really beginning to hurt. as soon as we got them back another attack went with 5 riders, again with riders that had just been sitting in. this time they got a good 200m on us pretty quickly and i knew we wouldn't get back onto them.
as we hit the home straight for the end of the 2nd to last lap the crowds were going crazy, shouting for us to chase. i got the message and sat on the front for about a mile, and managed to bring the other riders withing about 150m meters. trouble was no one else wanted to do any more work before the finish, and i had just screwed my chances for a good sprint, as now i was f****d. then the remaining riders with me, about 6 or 7 of us, all started attacking, and i was only just able to go with them, and hang on. as we came into the town people were screaming and cheering us from every corner. we hit the last corner, and now it was just 400m in a straight line to the finish. there were crowds along the whole stretch and the atmosphere was incredible. a team mate of another guy in our group started a lead out and i sat waiting to go. then with 200m to go the sprint started. i was on the wheel of one guy, and started to edge round him, which would have put me in 2nd place in our group, but he pushed me towards the barriers, so i had to sit up for a bit, and then start sprinting again. but i had lost a few places. i crossed the line 12th over all, only beating 2 other people in my group, but i was dead pleased.
i learned later that they had to pull out the main peleton with a few laps to go because they thought we might lap them! pretty impressive for a 4 mile lap. it was great to be in my first successful break away, and even better that it was in belgium with such a great atmosphere. if theres a lesson to be learned for next time, its to not do so much work, as i was suffering big time towards the end. its up there with some of the hardest races i have done, although i could have made it easier for myself. but its also up there as one of my favorite races.
stu
