Racing in Belgium

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Hey guys, some of you may know I took off to Belgium for a month to experience their racing. I've been here for about 5 days and I'm still overwhelmed at the popularity of cycling and the culture that follows it. It can't be described in words but I'll give it a try...

After 13 hours on the plane, then a 2 hour train ride from Brussels I finally arrived in Oudenaarde. Just to sum up Oudenaarde in a few sentences its a fairly small town of about 28,000. Cycling rules here. There are bike paths everywhere and everybody rides a bike. Every direction sign has a picture of a bike on it and for such a small town there are about 4 bike shops... Its not uncommon to see pro riders along the canal at any given day, just yesterday we saw a Quick Step rider on the other side of the road.

A few house mates had the experience of drafting behind Tom Boonen and Sylvain Chavanel the other day while they were motorpacing on the canal. Its not uncommon for amateur riders to do this and its perfectly allowed, it ensures a faster ride home...

About 1km away from the house is the Tour of Flanders course, completely marked with signs to follow and some of the most terrible cobbles. I understand cobbles now, nuff said.

Driving to my first Kermesse race I didn't really know what to expect, I heard mixed opinions from my house mates but the common trend seemed to follow, its fucking hard. I expected that and I expected wind and rain. We got both.

So you could probably guess I was kind of nervous but I just tried to stay happy and take in the experience. The wind and rain don't keep the racers away and they came out in numbers, I think there were 80 starters on monday. We pay 8 Euro for a Kermesse race, we receive 1 cloth race number and upon finishing the race and giving the number back we receive 5 Euro back. 3 Euro sure isn't bad for a race with full moving road enclosure. I should also mention that this race paid 30 deep! with about 150 Euro going to the winner. One of the cyclists who is staying at our host house got 28th place, he received 10 Euro for his effort. Oh and the races start late, this one started at 2pm.

This race flowed really well with few corners, a long narrow golf cart section that was mostly strung out and a minor cobbled section that ensured lost water bottles and loss of traction on the wet cobbles. Cornering here is much slower than North America, the racers slam on their brakes going into the corners then completely hammer out of them. The accordion effect kills most riders at the back so staying in the front group is crucial. I learned that fast. The racing is fast and strung out most of the time, its attack recover attack recover style of racing. Very intense and I was pretty happy just to finish the day. Everyone said my first race would be the hardest, I'm glad to have experienced it in terrible weather. After the race I looked pretty shell shocked covered in dirt and my lower back was killing me. It was basically a 2.5 hour crit race, most of the time being spent in the drops.

The weather sure doesn't keep people away and it was great to see so many people come out of their homes to cheer/bet on their local favorites. It was almost the equivalent to a Tour of Delta or Whiterock crit in Vancouver. Except this type of racing happens everyday in Belgium!

I finished 38th place (just outside of the money:0) Looking at the results page, I noticed a famous name finishing around 50th place:
Patrick Cocquyt. Some of you may recognize this name from the book "Dog in a Hat" He's 49 now, rode the classics as a pro in the 80's. He does well in these Kermesse races and like many amateurs/ex-pros who race them, earns his living off them.

More later, pictures too...