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Cakes, Qatar and Coughing- 08.02.2010

My last weekend before leaving for Qatar was spent surrounded by a ridiculous number of cakes. Seeing so many cakes would make you think that there were several birthdays in the family but this was not so; there was only one! However, being a cake loving nation every guest in our house that weekend arrived with a huge 'tarte' to celebrate young Yorben's 6th birthday. I do not have such a sweet tooth and can honestly say that I did not sample even one of these extravagant creations but I can assure you that none of it went to waste! I now feel that I am really learning what it means to be Belgian!

I departed early on Monday for Qatar nursing a VERY sore throat and coughing up increasing amounts of unpleasant green stuff; not ideal. I did feel better for the first day out there but things unfortunately did not continue to improve. The air out there in Qatar was so dry and after the first days racing I was sounding like a seal and not really feeling very human either! Things went from bad to worse and to spare the details I am now on a course of antibiotics :-( This is never a good thing but I remain optimistic for several reasons; I stayed clear of all the nasty pile-ups in the race and I would rather be sick now than in 4 weeks time!

Otherwise, Qatar was a great experience and one I will certainly not forget; we were treated like princesses! The hotel was stunning with amazing food and endless perks that would never normally be available to us as riders! Out of the hotel the country did not leave such a lasting impression. There was not so much to see- alot of white sand and the occassional camel! The people there were generally unused to cyclilsts so riding back from stages to the hotels was a risky undertaking! With fule being so cheap there (5 euros to fill the tank) there were no Corsa's, Golfs or Smart cars to be seen; EVERYONE drives a BIG car. Why not if fuel cost next to nothing?! Out of the cities however you got an occasional glimpse of how the other half lives; it is certainly a case of 'very rich or very poor'.

I leave on Wednesday for 9 days in Majorca; another precious stint of getting to know the team as well as putting in a good block of quality training in (hopefully) some warmer conditions!

As if the cakes weren't enough (no, they are not all there), Vicky decided that a chocolate fountain would be appropriate!

Nothing to see for miles but white sand- the tent had been errected by the organisation!

How the other half live. The small building in the background was the toilet, no bushes to wee behind in this country, it was a slight contrast to the luxury that we were being treated to in the Ritz Carlton in Doha!

At last, a day to turn around- 30.01.2010

I have been so busy since returning from Spain that I have had no time to sit down and do the more enjoyable things in life- drawing, BLOGS, phoning family!

I spent the first weekend back in Belgium in Zingem with the team; Saturday Het Volk parcours and Sunday Ronde Van Vlaanderen.With stayed in a great little hostel and enjoyed some fantastic food; it is certainly a place that I would recommend for groups wanting to stay in the area of RVV http://www.lepuretlimpur.be/  . I had a solid weekend of 260km of training but the weather was not so kind; in fact I am paying the price now with a sore throat and light cold. Despite Qatar only being a training exercise for me, this is not ideal preparation.

Since last Thursday I have been glued to the seat in front of my laptop marking maths exams. I had to have my allocation complete before leaving for Qatar which meant alot of work. However it is done now and the pennies earned! I would break to take the boys to school, ride the bike and then collect the boys again from school, otherwise it was nothing else but numbers and algebra!

Next task is to set up the new bike; a beautiful Ridley Asteria. This will be my first ever bike with campag; not great to have it only 2 days before leaving for Qatar, especially as I look out of the window and see a good 5cm of snow on the road! However, I am extremly excited about racing on this 'machine'!

Whatever my health situation on arriving in Qatar on Monday evening I intend to enjoy my first experience away with the team and allow my body to benefit from a little warm sunshine!

Top of mur in Gerrardsbergen during team training.

About to pack the bag again- 17.01.2010

I can not believe that my time in Spain is almost up; I am going to miss it enormously. I love the terrain out here and find it very easy to relax after my training. The coming weeks will be quite a contrast to all this; I start with a marking contract on Wednesday and have a training weekend with the whole team at the weekend in Belgium.

The weather out here has not been as good as in past years, though I am not about to complain; it certainly didn’t stop me training on the road! I have had the luxury of English TV and seen just how bad it has been in England; particularly in Yorkshire where I would have been had I spent this period in the country. I feel that I have made good use of my time here in Spain and made good progress.

I have missed massage out here but found a suitable alternative in Adam and Alex’s newly installed pool. With the air temperature not rising above 5 degrees for several days after my arrival it made for a great ‘ice bath’ to revive my tired legs! I can highly recommend such treatment!

I am looking forward to returning home and a little time with everyone in Hoefstraat before packing the suitcase again for the next venture.

 It was COLD!

Training, without a tacx!- 07.01.10

I am now in Spain and very glad that I made the journey when I did; any later and I think that I could well have been stranded in Belgium, or even worse, England! The thought of one more turbo session filled me with dread; it’s not that I am afraid of the inevitable chill of training on the road (I’m from Yorkshire, of course I’m not afraid of the cold), it’s more a matter of head ruling heart; to train on the road in such conditions is too risky. The risks are not only the obvious loss of traction on ice and subsequent encounter with the ground, but also the lowering of the immune system leading to sickness and in turn enforced time away from the bike.

Today I am staring at quite a different scene from that of yesterday; it has not ceased raining since I opened the shutters this morning and with no breaks visible in the clouds it is highly likely that it will still be raining when I drop the shutters this evening. However, I am happy that I have already packed in 5 days of endurance training (with only one drenching!) and can appreciate a perfectly timed rest day. Such endurance training was a real shock to the legs. My last road prior to landing in Spain had been on 20th December; all bike sessions since then were turbo sessions. I believe that you can do some really good quality work on the turbo but it really is no substitute for quality road riding. I am happy to say that I think my legs are beginning to adjust to sessions over 90minutes without the company of four walls (well, sometimes 3) and an i-pod!

I am staying with Adam and Alex (www.citruscycling.co.uk) for the third year running. It is a perfect scenario for me. I literally must only bring the bike; EVERYTHING else is here, no need to pack tools or a pump, and for days like today when I just need to spin my legs there are rollers or a turbo. I love the comfort of the apartment which makes relaxing after training REALLY easy!

I am becoming a little tired of listening to the weather reports in England. It reflects how fickle media can be; for 4 days there has been barely anything else to report in the news! I guess it is just what we as a nation are used to; would you see the media becoming obsessed with snowfall and plunging temperatures in Norway for example?! It is a real shame that we can not seem to cope with such conditions like some of our European neighbours; I wonder how many countries will cancel their National Cross Championships due to ‘heavy snowfall’! While there is no let up forecast for several days in England I remain very appreciative of my current location and fully intend to make the most of it.

Clear sunny skies out to the coast yesterday....

....rather a different view today!

Happy New Year-31.12.09

I enjoyed coffee with a great friend and supporter today, this entry is for that friend as we both leave 2009 behind us and look forward to 2010. THANK YOU to EVERYONE who has supported me throughout the year; work hard to achieve all your dreams in 2010 and enjoy doing so!

Riding away from 2009 and into 2010.

All over the place- 30.12.09

It’s been a long time and for that I apologise! I have done ALOT since my last BLOG and so must do my best to ‘fill you in’, but not bore you!

My return journey to England was exceptionally good given the timing; the day before my departure it snowed, REALLY snowed! Thanks to a friend in West Flanders I had only a short trip to the port of Dunquirk on the Saturday morning; I was extremely grateful of this hospitality. The roads in Dunquirk itself were the worst that I have ever driven on; 5 or 6 inches of impacted snow that had subsequently frozen. I was disappointed to find out that there was a one hour delay on the scheduled departure; but not so desperate as the hundreds of Eurostar victims that I went on to watch on tv during the crossing. We had a further hour delay before docking in Dover, but I continued to count myself lucky as I saw the thousands in the static 15 mile into the port of Dover. I really felt for those people as they certainly faced hours of misery on the M20/A20 waiting to get onto a ferry; the queue really was going no where! Further up the chaos continued as the traffic stacked up around Ashford for the Tunnel. My fortune that day is still fresh in my mind since I have never experienced such a smooth drive up north as I had that day; not one jam! Ironic that it could so easily have been quite different had I been travelling in the opposite direction.

Time with family was, as ever, special, though I did not actually get to see everyone that I had hoped; the snow put a stop to this.
On Christmas Eve I landed in an equally snow ravaged New York for the second time this year (thanks Leigh!). It was a fantastic experience to see such extravagant decoration, though the crowds both on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were excessive. I enjoyed a couple of 10K runs in Central Park surrounded by the white stuff and listening to the Christmas music being blasted out from the speakers overlooking the ice rinks within the park; very atmospheric!