5th August 2006: Berlare - Belgium
I was hoping to feel better this morning but I woke feeling like a sack of potatoes! But the show must go on ! so to the races I go........... It was a nice circuit and the weather was hot and windy which should've been good for a nice break on this circuit as the finish was up a hill and the wind was high. The race started of with one rider clipping off the front so the bunch left her out there for a few laps until we chased her back. A few of us tried to jump across but the bunch kept being brought up to us (and anyone else who tried) by a rider who couldn't jump across but pulled the whole of the bunch with them and this continued throughout the race!! The bunch were not very impressed but were quite happy to sit on to save their legs for what was going to now be a sprint finish. My legs bad still despite me telling them differently I could not fool them so the finish was not so good for me as I had nothing to give today. Back home for another early night ready for tomorrows race. Sunday - Zingem - Belgium - 56k - 16 laps Yippee I feel like Me today!! I felt a lot more alert and up for racing today which is always a good sign and it also means the booster injection's side effects are leaving my body thankfully. So know I can get on with racing properly. I wanted to get a result today and felt up for it. Andy Verrall was at the race today so we rode around for a few laps to see what the circuit was like. Nice circuit twisty and fast. The race started steady but on the 2nd lap a girl crashed into my rear gear hanger and managed to bend it and rip my gear cable. I was certain I was going down but managed to stay upright but could not move my gear down the block!! Oh, dear this was now going to be a long race as I like to push a gear and I needed to today if I wanted a result. It was impossible to react too much with the gears I had to play with so I thought I would try and get away and keep the cadence high as the sprint would be difficult without my bigger gears as it was on a slight incline. I got a good gap and was joined by a Keukens chick but her team mate was up the road so no help was coming from her. We got caught and the bunch continued to close the gap between us and the 3 escapes a lotto, keukens and another chick. After all attempts failed the sprint was soon coming up so I decided to stay up front as close as possible and sit in as much as possible as I knew I couldn't do a great deal with the gears I had so I got in a good position and buried myself to the finish crossing the line in 15th. Lotto taking the win with Keukens 2nd. Phew glad to finish the race today but slightly frustrated with having good legs but broken gears but I was happy to finish in spinning style! I am chilling a bit now ready for my next races which are next week in Holland and Belgium. I then go to Sardinia for a week training then straight to Pakistan to do a Pro MTB tour which is also a charity event for the victims of the Pakistani Earthquake to raise funds for a new school for the children. The tour is being held in Karakorum and is over a 3 day period in the mountains and valleys. The web site info is: http://www.kmt.org.pk This is going to be a great experience and good training before I do the Giro D'Toscana on the 12th September. A busy month ahead!!
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