My view of the cycling world; Bret Glembocki

A Review

2007-02-16T20:10:00.000-06:00

I have this compelling urge to a least make a brief mention of this place:
Over the holidays I got a chance to stop in at a new little establishment on Downer Avenue in Milwaukee called New Hollander. Nice place with a bit of a cycling theme. Paintings, and old bikes to add to the atmosphere, but best of all, Belgian beer. Of all types. Leffe on tap. mmmmm....good stuff. They even had some nice frites to go with my mayonnaise.

It was rather calm in there around the holidays, but this past weekend I got another chance to stop in there for a few more minutes. The place was "hoppen." Almost too busy, but the beer was still good. Even if some don't like their beer in a "wine" glass... I still enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. Especially the cycling enthusiast.

It will be interesting to see how the place goes over during the Superweek race that will happen right outside its front doors.

Broke!!

2007-02-11T19:56:00.000-06:00

Back in Madison

2006-12-23T07:27:00.000-06:00

I'm back in good ol' Madison WI, I finally have an internet connection that doesn't take me 15min. just to check my e-mail. For those of you who still check in occasionally, that means you should be hearing/reading more from me a little more. Guess what...its even wireless, beautiful. I think I have a tear in my eye!

The weather has been getting a bit colder, but I still think some of the best riding to be found is just west of Madison so I have to say that it is nice to be back.

Here's my holiday rant:
For those of you who like to send cards around this time of year. Please make them of value! Don't send some generic happy holidays card to someone you know celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah or something else. If you don't know what they celebrate or at least what background they were raised in. Maybe, you should be a bit more selective in what you send out. Send out a few really nice ones as opposed to a million to those you barley know. Yeah, I know call me a grinch. Merry Christmas!

Sorry, no dial tone

2006-10-02T09:33:00.000-06:00

A dial up conection really sucks. I know that all of you know that already, but I thought I would let you know again. It took me 3 days to post my last post. I couldn't even do it on the connection I was using. I eventually broke down and sought out a real connection.

Dial up connections should only exist in that mythic sort of form that you only see or hear about when you visit a museum. At this point in time, nobody should have to suffer through a dial up connection. Yes, I know I am ranting about something that really doesn't matter. But dial up still sucks.

Upon returning home

2006-09-30T09:41:00.000-06:00

Upon returning home after being in Belgium for 6 months…..

I gave CarrieAnn a gigantic hug

I made a right turn on red

I tried to sleep in but couldn’t because 8am still feels like 3pm.

I realized that I missed the release of a lot of movies, I think they call it culture shock??? Oh, and music too!

I went and bought a large box of Oreo cookies and some vitamin D whole milk (that wasn’t heated beyond belief and packaged so it was still good a decade later). I then put all the Oreo’s in a mixing bowl, poured the milk in and ate all of it. Yes, all of it.

I figured out that the radio stations in Milwaukee still suck and actually got worse since I had left.

I discovered that my new favorite saddle is the San Marco Regal. Those of you who want to call me an “old man” or call it an “old man’s saddle” …well you just don’t have any concept of what a good saddle is. Yes, I bought the white Euro edition one on my way out of Belgium. So, that makes it just that much cooler. Brass rivets and all.

I went and made sure that the mountain bike trails that go over and around my favorite garbage dump of a ski hill are still there…at least those that didn’t fall into the river…or become the river. Mmmm…garbage dumb runoff…awesome lets go for a swim!

I decided that ride food should be cookies, pop tarts and other things of that nature. Who eats bananas anyway?

I have warmed up to the idea that coffee shop rides are good, yet still provide no real training value. Mostly because the time spent at the shop far exceeds that of the ride…

CarrieAnn caught red handed. Cookies for ride food...what a grand idea!

Lost race report

2006-09-19T08:52:00.000-06:00

Here's a race report that I had thought I posted ealier, but I guess I didn't so here it is. Enjoy.

7-11-06

GP Stad Geel – Top Competition – UCI 1.12

The race: 170km of flat fun with one cobbled section at about 100km and 4 local laps.

The day started off fast with an early break of about 18 that would get whittled down a bit by the time we hit the local laps. The break never got more than 3 min up the road with pace always remaining high. The average for the day was 48kph so we weren’t exactly crawling along. The team maintained decent position the entire race (well, at least after the break went…Aaron was the only one in decent position when the early break went) while letting some of the “bigger” teams do most of the work to keep the pace high and break in check. The 2km cobbled section that was 40km from the local laps, broke things up a bit but most of the peleton came back together within a few km after the cobbles. A handful of guys went down in the scramble just before the cobbles, but thankfully I was to the right of that. For the most part things went really smooth most of the race Scott had an early mechanical, got it taken care of and got back in the race. I happen to get a flat as we were entering the fairly technical local laps. They really weren’t bad at all, if you were in a group of 20 or so, but since the peleton was together for the most part, it was a bit hairy at times. It was probably the worst time to get a flat all day. The peloton was rolling at 50+kph reeling the break in. Maybe, a flat on the cobbles would have been worse, maybe.

The wheel change went pretty smooth. I got a wheel from the Mavic neutral support and Bernard came up to give a feed and to lend a hand with getting back on. Sounds simple right? Well, as I was about to take a bottle some “other” rider who was working his way up through the cars decided to come around our car and put his ass in my handle bars in the process. This was one of those “oh shit” moments. I thought I was going to end up under the car. In fact I very nearly did. For a split second, there was more of me clinging and hanging on to the side of the car than was actually on my bike. Heert was also helping to cling to me and keep me on the side of the car rather than under. Once I was actually back on my bike, many explicatives were shouted at my new friend who was passing by.

Entering the local laps is always the time to go crazy hard, and in this case start bringing the break back. That left me back in the cars, trying to make up ground, and going crazy hard. After about a full lap of working my way through the caravan I finally made it back into the group, with 3 local laps to go.

Earlier we had decided that we were going to try and give Sean a lead out if it came down to bunch sprint. The gap to the break was coming down and it was looking like things were going to get reeled in. With one to go we were working hard to gain and hold some good position, but it was proving more and more difficult as we got closer and closer to the final km. I even ended up taking a few risks that I probably shouldn’t have. One particular risk involved an encounter with what I am told were “nettles.” Not a crash, just a sort of riding through them as I was cutting a corner around some road furniture. Let’s just say that I don’t really think the old wives tale or whatever you want to call it really works for curing the itching. It just makes you smell like vinegar in addition to the already annoying itching. Oh, and that lead out thing…yeah I have to say we got an A for effort, but we need a bit more practice. It was great to see that all of us were there with a good deal of confidence and I look forward to putting together some serious lead outs in the future.

mmmmmmm...cobbles

2006-09-08T06:26:00.000-06:00

Nate and I decided to go for a little training ride out to some cobbled climbs. They always seem to make the ride just that much more enjoyable...so enjoy the pictures!

Looking up the Old Kwaremont. Really the picture doesn't do justice to the steapness. Oh, and don't forget the 2km of flase flat cobbles at the top.

Up close and personal with the Old Kwaremont.

Even more fun...

Again the picture doesn't do justice, but I still like the picture.

Of course up close and personal with the Koppenberg as well.

Cute, Not so Cute

2006-09-02T08:21:00.000-06:00

So, I was going through some photos I took this spring and found these. This First one is of a little friend of mine that I found near the house. The problem was that all his buddies didn't like me. As soon as I rolled up his friends decided to look at me all mean and stuff. After a few min they all started sounding their battle cries and charging the fence, trust me it was scary! I ran away as fast as I possibly could!

Ahhh, windmills...can you tell we are close to the Netherlands.

A little pasture I found along a canal leading out of Bruge.

Ronde Van Antwerpen

2006-09-02T07:58:00.000-06:00

So, I decided I had to post this picture just because it is cool and it is the only picture I have of myself actually racing on wet greasy cobbles! Tour of Antwerp, stage 2. Notice I'm still showin the UW pride.

Winding down a bit

2006-08-27T01:10:00.000-06:00

After spending much of the summer here at the Cycling Center with 26+ guys in the house...it is finally calming down. Over half have returned home and a place that felt a bit crowded suddenly feels almost empty. Not that I was happy to see most of them go, but at this point it is really nice to have a bit of breathing space. I don't have to fight for a wash machine, I can cook dinner without having to dance around 10 others trying to do the same thing, I don't have to listen to 10 guys sitting around debating about what TT frame (that they will never own, or ever ride) is better, and I am actually sitting here in the main room with NOBODY else. Alright, I'm not really complaining. Its just that living with 7 guys is way easier than 26. And, yes, I am a bit introverted by nature...so I like it. In the last few days I have finnaly lost the urge to throw people out the window....awwww isn't that nice. I say all this half jokingly, but only half.

So who wants to ride to a Bakery and get some pasteries??

Only in Belgium

2006-08-25T11:29:00.000-06:00

Bevey UCI 1.12.1324242387749238057920...umm its in france someplace

2006-08-25T11:00:00.000-06:00

A good post race expression by Kevin Vandersteene, seems to convey a 1000 words more than I could say.

Noel trying to hand me a bottle of recovey stuff as I am ready to tip over after a rain soaked race...that had the start moved back 1 hour and then actually started 20min. later than that...ahhh France.

How old am I??

2006-08-05T10:06:00.000-06:00

After five months here at the CC in Belgium I have realized that I am slowly reverting to a younger child-like self. Today during dinner myself and a few others decided that you needed a password to get into the kitchen and proceeded to block the door and hang a sign on it that ironically read "no girls allowed." Yeah, I kinda instigated it with the sign. And, yes, I know that I have no sentence strructure/grammar. Why not, right? I'm thinking that I was acting something like 8-9 years of age. At that rate I will be 5 or so next week. Sound good? Oh, and the part of the password involved jumping around like a monkey.

Why would anything be serious...hell I've been a bike bum for how long now??

Bunches and Bunches

2006-08-02T08:15:00.000-06:00

I have done bunches and bunches of races since last updating. In fact that is why I have not been updating. Race, eat, sleep, race, eat, sleep, and in between that, recover, recover. In that time I have done a handful of UCI 1.12 races, capped off by a stage race Vlaams Brabant (2.12). The one day races went pretty good with one of them ending in a bunch sprint that we attempted to line it up, but quickly discovered that the bunch of us young grasshoppers have much to learn. The stage race went well not great as far as I saw, but afterward I go commentary from others was much more positive than I ever would have thought.

In the first two days I sustained two crashes. One was while I was near the front of a group and someone in front of me decided to be really stupid, but I suppose it is still my fault. The second was a massive pile-up with more than half of the field going down. It was one of those “the world is crashing down on me” sort of feelings. It ended with many layers of bikes on top of me. By the morning of the third day I was feeling like a 90 year old man that had just tried playing full NFL game. We did end up with a man finishing 17 on the overall, so all efforts were not wasted, but I still stand frustrated. No, matter what others have to say about my performance. Hey, if I can’t be critical towards myself than who can. If you want more details about my bruises, or if you want to hear me be even more critical of how things went, just shoot me an e-mail. Otherwise, I will spare the rest of you.

Fitness is good, attitude is positive, bruises are healing and preparations are moving along for another stage race. Bring it on.

Long Time No Talkie

2006-07-21T11:20:00.000-06:00

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo...what have I been up to. It's going to take a bit of catching up. If I am going too fast at any point just let me know.

4th of Julyish...had a huge cookout here at the Cycling Center, I got steak at the butcher shop that was something like a pound and a half...7 Euros, not bad, not bad at all. After all the schnanagins we went bowling and watched the end of a world cup game. Unfortuantely I never found any fireworks. Maybe it was fortunate???

On the 5th we went to watch part of the Tour De France stage that came somewhat close to the area of Belgium that the CC is located in. That's where I found my new friend (above). Isn't he cute!!! No, really this piece of cardboard almost cut my throat as it was flying out of some promotional car in the train preceeded the race. The weather was nice and it was a decent way to spend a rest day. Most of the pics I got that would have been any good, didn't seem to turn out. So, I guess I will just leave you with a not so good one! Why does there have to be a delay on digital cameras, well at least ones that aren't millions of $$!! The rest of you are probably just calling me self absorbed for posting pictures of myself, but for those of you who are family...I'm sure your loving to see that I'm still alive and kickin. So whoever you are...deal with it :)

Caddyshack

2006-07-09T04:01:00.000-06:00

Every time I check out Ted's (aka Carl Spackler) blog I see a quote that makes me chuckle...

"Carl I want you to kill all the gophers on the golf course." "Correct me if I'm wrong Sandy, but if I kill all the golfers they'll lock me up and throw away the key." "Not golfers, you great fool. Gophers." "We can do that. We don't even need a reason."

The other day I decided I had to watch it. Had not seen it in years...absoulutely hilarious.

Race Report...what's that (Schaal Schoeters - UCI 1.12)

2006-07-06T12:12:00.000-06:00

Schaal Schoeters – UCI 1.12 4/6/06

The day started out unusually sunny and was actually looking as if it were going to get quite warm. In fact it did get warm, it hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The course layout was a large loop of about 80km with 8 tight and twisty local laps for a total of about 160km of Belgian racing fun. No real cobbles, but definitely some “city” cobbles and plenty of roads with a giant wheel eating crevasse in the center.

The race started out with a short neutral roll out that was surprisingly calm. That means it wasn’t a 50 kph neutral roll out. For the first hour the field moved along at a pretty good pace, dodging in and out of all the local town squares and avoiding the almost excessive amount of European road furniture. At this point a group of 14 or so rolled off with none of the five Cycling Center riders in it, not good, but not the end of the world; we still had quite a way to the finish line. Oh, and there was a chase group off that which had about 20 or so in it…hmmm. Not a great situation, but I was able to keep constant tabs on the status of the groups via Bernard Moerman (Cycling Center Director) in the team car.

Once the peloton got within 30km of the local laps the pace and the intensity increased. Shortly after this started to happen I went two or three times with small groups of 4-5 riders, but nobody really wanted to play nice together. So, all of those came back. The same was happening with the rest of my teammates, go and come back. Finally, I went with a group that was willing to work a bit. We drove pretty hard and caught the chase group as we were coming into the first of the local laps and proceeded to drive right though them. At this point we became the chase group of 9 with 11 still up the road. We chased somewhat consistently until 3 laps to go, at that point we were losing steam and the willingness to cooperate was dwindling as well. Within those first couple local laps we lost two riders and then gained two others. With two laps left the group was clearly getting tired and any real chasing was done. I was getting on the empty side of things as well but, definitely had a bit left; some of the snap was gone, but not all gone. Looking at it in retrospect I probably didn’t drink enough early on in the race. I know that I drank well in excess of 10 bottles of water and electrolyte mix. Oh, and one coke, which is awesome when you have about 10km left. Again, thanks must go to the support crew of Bernard and Heert (mechanic) in the Team car and Ann (Bernard’s wife and mother to all of us at the Cycling Center) and Noel (Soigneur) in the feed zones. Really though, I’m not sure how much more I could have drank.

And that last lap… which I am sure you’re wondering about. Well, I ended up with a 20th place, so um… the sprint really didn’t go well at all. There was a left turn with about 250m to go and a right with about 100m to go. Seeing as I had ridden the finishing stretch eight times already I should have opened it up sometime shortly after the final left turn instead of allowing my self to get pinched into the curb/fence on the last turn. All in all, I’ll take it. Sure I made a few mistakes (obviously enough to keep me out of the lead group), but it wasn’t too many, and my fitness is on the up and up.

I feel I must leave one comment in regards to racing in Belgium. There never really are any calm moments. Something is always going on, attacks or whatever it may be. There is just intense racing and moments that are more intense.

So I suppose I should update???

2006-07-02T11:17:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I know I haven’t been keeping up my blog, and I really have no excuse.

Just to get this one out of the way. I really don’t have much to say about all the doping scandals/junk going on with cycling right now. My only real comment is that is disgusts me. Enough said.

More about myself…see I’m selfish, why would I talk about doping when I can talk about myself…no really, here is a bit about what I have been up to.

I took few days off as you saw in my previous post. After that I hoped into a kermis and was told to sit in for an hour or so. It worked out that I got myself in the selection and did a little more racing than I had planned, but hey it was a nice way to come off of break. I kinda got worked over a little and didn’t have much left at the end anyway…so the result wasn’t anything that spectacular.

Since then I’ve had a few other races that have been slow steady improvements all around. Physically I am feeling really good, and for the first time in a long time…in fact maybe ever. I feel like I don’t exactly know where my limits are…good but kinda weird too. Maybe, I shouldn’t be saying this, but hey, I tell it how it is! So, now I got to put all that mental stuff together right? Then I should be rockin it! I’ll keep you posted on that, I promise.

The one not so great thing I have been dealing with is what seems to be some sort of residual stuff from the Belgian gut rot I had earlier in the year. It seems to come back for a day or a few hours here and there, and leaves for a touchy stomach all around. Something I am definitely not used to. Most recently it decided to visit me during a race. Let’s just say I couldn’t eat or drink for the first 2 hours or so and hit a point where I was seriously considering pulling off the road and yaking. After we started hitting all the cobbled climbs I started coming around a bit, forced down two bottles and finished the day decent but not great.

More personal details on or after the 4th…maybe even a 4th of July update…I’m sick of being selfish right now…I’m gona go read someone elses blog...

Oh, and can anyone tell me where to find some fireworks in Belgium?

A Mid-Season Break

2006-06-17T11:54:00.000-06:00

I spent a few days off the bike and attempted to get my mind off racing and the CC for at least a couple a minutes. I have to say that it was definatley time to let my mind rest a bit. I decided to do a bit of traveling...well, enough to get me to the next city down the line. As a last minute thing I talked my South African friend, Wes, into going with. We headed to Brugge and bought a train ticket, which is a story in itself, for Ghent. It was only about a 30min. train ride but it was enough to get away and into a city that has a little more of that urban feel to it. We only spent a day and a half or so in Ghent, but hey...I only had three days off the bike, and in that time I think I walked more than I walked in the past five years... ten maybe...man I'm otta shape. What a wus, I even have the blisters on my feet to prove it. Here are a few pictures. I have more but, I think if I try to do all of them at once blogger will explode or something??

Havin "the best beer in the world" in Bruge before we head out to Gent. Left Wes, Right Aaron....and on the right was Matt (sorry Matt) but that picture didn't turn out for some reason or another.

A veiw of the Castle of the Counts from within the walls.

Wes gettin ready for one of his infamous cage matches...don't tell me that if you can actually walk around with all that stuff on you wouldn't feel in the least bit tough...and I think thats being modest!

Who's that???

Bobby you better watch your step

2006-06-05T01:12:00.000-06:00

Soooo, I get this picture e-mailed to me, and who else is sitting on CarrieAnn's lap but Bob Roll! All I have to say is you better watch your step Bobke!

I do have to say that it looks like the Trek 100 went well, I see tons of ISCorp jerseys in the background, awsome!

Belgium is Belgium

2006-05-30T11:34:00.000-06:00

So, I go to Dr. Dag and I tell him all my symptoms. He replies, stop eating shit, hahaha. Yep, I spent the whole week training in the rain...and ya know all that spray from the road that gets on your bottles etc....ummmm yeah. All those cows in the farm fields are just laughing at me, I just know it. I guess half the Discovery team had the same issues last week during the Tour of Belgium. He just got back test results for them and they all had whatever bug it is. A few days of antibiotics and he says I should be ready to race. We'll see....I have to be able to stay hydrated for more than a few seconds at a time. But, for know I'll head back to my throne...

Questions/inquires

2006-05-28T10:56:00.000-06:00

I appreciate the questions/inquiries that many of you sent. I will attempt to respond to them here and in future reports.

The "other than racing questions" involved stuff pertaining to the world situation and how things "appear" over hear.

One thing I have to stress is that I am living with a bunch of Americans, so current events still seem to sink into my brain in much the same fasion that they do when I am back home. However the televised news here does seem to show quite a bit more, along with a bit more variety, and less "programmed" repetition. Also, remember that Hertsberg is a little village in rural Belgium and that the nearest city is Brugge, which seems to thrive on lot of tourism. Although Paris is relatively close, if something is going on there…I would have to see it on the news to know about it.

I don’t really want to get into a whole ton of political stuff, but on the whole, people seem to have a liking for America. On the other hand they don’t really seem to like President Bush, at all. At the moment this doesn’t seem like it is a hard thing to do…even for Americans, but things are definitely a bit more liberal here and well I have to say that I don’t really like the taxes that I see on a lot of stuff here, nor do I like that I get a feeling of restriction when I start to look at how "businesses" operate here…so I’ll just leave it at that and not go down that road any further, especially seeing as I really don’t know what I am talking about…but who does anyway.
Some other "other than racing questions" pointed more directly at me and who I am.
Well when I am not riding my bicycle I like to do stuff like go hiking, camping…sleep, watch cartoons (yes, cartoons), eat sweedish fish, eat oreos with a big glass of milk, and those things called cherry flavored craisins, have you ever had any?? If you haven’t you don’t know what you are missing!! They remind me of these strawberry gummy snacks that I used to get when I was younger, this is before they started making them in all sorts of crazy animal shapes and whatever, besides I can’t say that I don’t want to eat them because they are bad for me or something, they are just cranberries ( I can probably make some sort of negative calorie claim about them too, well they might be too good for that but whatever)…..hmmm what else….I’ve actually taken quite a liking to cooking, I think this was some sort of influence Ted had on me. I often find myself trying a new dinner or something with out a recipe. I figure out how the basics of it work and go from there. I made this butternut squash risotto thing and it turned out pretty good, but I think I can make it better…did ya here that CarrieAnn? I’ll at least be a P-R-O Chef when I get back! Well, maybe not really, but in my mind I will be.

Oh, and something else. First you gotta promise not to tell anyone. Promise?? I was talking with Uncle Hert and agrees that there is a hole in the market here, and I’m going to capitalize on it! Big time! I’m gona bring the evil giant to Belgium. I’m gona start opening Starbucks up all over the place, next to all of the millions of bakeries in Belgium there is going to be a Starbucks, and they will be open 24 hours a day every day including holidays. I’ll have all of Belgium twitching from too much caffeine in no time! So who wants to give me a couple a loans?....

Another even quicker recap

2006-05-28T10:17:00.000-06:00

Another even quicker recap:

This one involved a little bit of travel to just outside of Paris. UCI 1.12 Saint Maximin. It was a 5km circuit done more times than I want to count. The circuit involved a climb through the finish line of about 1k and was fallowed by a false flat and a turn into a cross headwind, fallowed by a downhill section back to the climb. The "hill" was big ring all day, which really wasn’t that awful. It just made the rest of the circuit feel really good, especially the false flat immediately after.
A break of about 9 went after the first couple of laps and that was THE break. I’m still trying to figure out how this race got the "UCI" sanctioning it did…or maybe it was pulled at the last minute?? There were two teams in there that were fairly decent and had about a million guys in the field, and also had men in the break, so things were controlled by them, at least for the most part. There were few moves that looked as if they might have made a solid chase group. I know Sean and I did too much work to get ourselves in one of these…really I thought it was solid, but I guess I was wrong.
By the end the "hill" had taken its toll on all of us. Three of us remained when we rolled the final lap. The finish was an uphill bunch sprint…well sort of. Aron, Sean, and I ended up 28, 32, and 44 respectively. Nothing horrible, but nothing to get all excited over.

Other comments:

France has a larger discrepancy between classes than I would have imagined. We spent a little bit of time driving around to find the race. In that time we drove through a seemingly private town that included its own polo club and golf course, and we drove by some little shanty towns (tin lean two’s and all)…literally.

About 100 meters past the start/finish: All of us rolling out for some good ol' fun.

Post race, getting ready to head out. Left to right, myself, Aron, and Chris.

"A quick recap"

2006-05-16T13:59:00.000-06:00

A quick recap of the past weekend: The past weekend involved Pevele a UCI 1.12 and Douchy les Mines a UCI 1.12 that bore the label of “criterium.” Both took place in France.

Pevele was on Saturday and was probably the most ridiculous start to a race I have yet to experience. At this point I think that both you and I know that races in France often start before the gun ever goes off, but this was more chaotic than average. To set the stage; it was a 17-18km (11 laps total) loop that hit two sections of cobbles. The first and the longest section was the one that Hincape broke his steer-tube on earlier this season (also the ones from our photo op). This was fallowed by a narrow uphill/headwind section that lead to the second section. Still wondering about the start? Hmmm, well the day before we all were planning on a 4km sprint to the first section of cobbles. Redlined from the gun right?? When we showed up they decided to tell us that we were going to do a neutral lap that bypassed the cobbled sections, and then were going to stop the whole peleton and start the race from some other point on the course…..rrrright… Anyway we started our 40-50kph “neutral” lap and the pace car, of which I was literally sitting on its bumper, decided to lead us all down a dead end road. I Then hightailed it to the other end of the peloton, bushwacking-cyclocross style and proceeded to do the rest of the “neutral” lap including the cobbled sections. Here on the neutral lap the peloton split into four groups, yes, splits on the neutral. I really can’t complain too much at this point because I had good positioning and was looking back at the splits…to be honest, I was sort of hoping the splits would stay and the race would just continue without the “official” start. Eventually we were stopped at the designated “official” start and proceded to push pull and creep our way past any official and the start line itself. I mean really this was ridicoulous, guys were lined up on the grass and any other place you could find. Ok go! 8km to the cobbles. Well lets just say my legs didn’t like that restart thing too much or something. I hit first section of cobbles with good positioning, but did too much work to be there. This translates to 200km before the cobbles… uhohh I think I did too much work …100km oh sh—I did do too much. Ok so maybe I got a bit antsy after the chotic “neutral” lap, and it cost me my race and any chances of making it into any sort of selection…of which I feel very strongly that I could/should have been in. It was a hard day to settle with.

Douchy les Mines took place on Monday and was another unique one. Can we say UCI Kermis! Definitely not a Crit. 6km laps (21 laps total)…um no not a crit. It fallowed the typical kermis formula of run you through all the tiny little streets with 1001 turns and then shove you out of town into some windy section…oh and did I mention that little hill, yeah you gotta go up that too. I guess when they said crit all they ment was that there was going to be a pit and free laps allowed. Obviously they ment multiple free laps, being a 6km course and all, that is unless someone can show me how to sprint in my cycling shoes…ummm yeah, I can’t sprint in a pair of running shoes, so go figure. The day ended with three of us in the peleton sprinting for 30th place or something. I will say that this day went a bit better than Saturaday, but not much. Oh, and one other thing, there were millions of little French kids all over the course and they were much less reserved than your typical Belgian. They liked to talk back and throw stones onto the course…yeah and the ones that were trying to look tough, they were sort of missing the target on that one. So, all you US punks out there, you definitely have a one up on the French…or as we have been so affectionately calling them, “Frank.” I not sure if I entirely like Frank, at least at the moment. And Frank FYI, the accordion before the race was just not cool, especially after you ran it all through a ton of speakers.

The Legitamacy of it all

2006-05-10T13:55:00.000-06:00

What have I been up to you ask?? Well, riding my bike of course, duh! The past few weeks have been a bit slower than the first few, which in some ways is good. Some of the time was spent with the Belgian cold/flu sort of thing. A bit frustrating because the last time I got sick was last year at the same exact time. This winter I even made it though a few rounds of the flu unscathed. Maybe, its just all that international travel stuff. Anyway, I am now back on my feet. I did a kermis while I was still hacking a bit, survived that and we ended up with a man in the break. Not too horrible. Also, did a UCI 1.12 in Anzehem this past Saturday. I ended up struggling with a few flats. This sort of brings me to a point that I struggle with. I’m not sure how to relay some of the details of racing here. How do I really describe the aggression, and mentality of it all? What is it like to do a UCI race here?... I can try, and have tried. But, without actually having first hand experience, I feel I am only scratching the surface. Describing the racing/lifestyle here is about as unique as the racing itself.

Besides going on about the whole lifestyle thing and that being a professional cyclist is 24 hour a day job, what else can I say? Well, I will say that I feel the Cycling Center is a legitimate endeavor. Take for example a UCI race. We show up with a crew that takes care of everything except us putting on our shorts and actually pedaling our bikes. The races involve “real” caravans. Take a look at some Tour de France coverage, look at the caravan, that’s pretty much what we have fallowing our races, less a few spectators of course. In the race there is a constant stream of information from Bernard in the team car (through the radios), and Ann is always armed and ready in the feed zone. What more can you ask for?? All I really have to do is race my bike. Piece of cake, right? Well lets just say that I hope to be able to say that at some point. Remember, the mentality in races here is nothing like that of the US. Its go hard from the gun, and go even harder until a break forms, and then go even harder. Very little room for playing “patty cake.”

Aside from the actual races themselves, there is a ridiculous amount of support that the CC receives/provides/has access to. Training guidance, bike fit, diet consultation, massage therapy, etc. etc. its all there when you need it. It seems as though there is a Pro tour team car in the driveway every week, someone or other stopping by to see how things are going. The point is that there are a lot of people looking out for the well being of the CC, and the goings on within it.

A bit more about myself….

Right now I am in round 2 of Bret vs. Belgium (or however you wish to look at it), but with a slow start, as with last year, I feel as if I am only in round 1.5. Not trying to sound negative at all here. It’s just that I am very anxious to get some good racing in, and little time to open up all that winter training and preparation. Almost like an impatient little kid. I’m getting very itchy to really get into a race and dig deep. Only in the past few days have I begun to feel near 100% again. Finally stopped coughing, man that took a long time. Now its time (a bit overdue at that) to go tear it up…so look out Belgians here comes a big ol’ American with a bull’s-eye on his back…see if you can catch me…ha!

All of you who sent questions or comments thanks, I have tons to work with now. Not that I didn’t before, but now I got a little bit of an idea of what some of you want to here…ahemmm…only some of you though.

Below are a few pictures that a fellow CC member, Eric (thanks, Eric), took at a UCI, I was not racing in this particular one, but I hope some of the pictures give a little bit of an idea of how things work.

A view from the caravan, keep in mind that we have good position in the caravan this day. Meaning there are a ton of other team cars behind us.

Above: A shot of Sean doing some motorpacing for a nice solid warm up. Yes, you are looking through the rear window of the team car.

Below: A view of the inside of the team car

To my valued readers

2006-05-04T12:17:00.000-06:00

To your left is a picture of a picture. Yes, I know if you wern't already wondering a bit about me...I'm sure you are now. No, really the point of this is that some of you seem to be taking a liking to some of the photos I have been putting up, and that I have been lacking in describing my personal cycling/racing experiences. This leads me to ask a question of all of you. (Yes, there are quite a few of you...I figured out how to check the little page hit counter...either a few of you really like to click a lot, and I mean a lot...or there is actually a lot of you tuning in.) What would you like to hear from me. Race stuff, daily life stuff, pictures, ramblings about my view on life??? Send me questions, and if I don't get any, none of you can complain!! So, ha!! Take that!!

Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, the above photo is from an earlier post, and it looks like it turned out quite well.

The below photo is a doctored up version of the original post...free Picasa picture software at its finest.

As per request

2006-04-25T10:11:00.000-06:00

As per request, the castle on the corner in Hertsberg. Not sure if the Consulate of Surinam still lives there/owns the place. As far as I can tell the name plate is gone, and a little security camera bubble is there instead. Yes, I'm sure they got me on camera hanging through the front gate trying to get this picture.

A rare "open gate" view of the little bungalow next door...it is much larger from the back...maybe I'll pull some James Bond stuff and get a unobstructed shot one of these days.

Picture Day

2006-04-20T10:56:00.000-06:00

It was finally a nice day out so I decided to go do the Kastelenroute...a route that goes through a parkway or two, passes by a few castles and hits some cool little dirt and cobbled sections.

Short and Sweet...Sweet and Sour that is.

2006-04-17T12:48:00.000-06:00

All I have for today is a short a useless comment about my dinner.

So some of us decided to try to get Chinese takeout...man it was just weird. The food was your typical Ameri-Asian food you find in the US at just about any takout joint. The restaurant itself actually looked pretty nice. It was just wierd to go in and start trying to order...and all of the sudden I do one of those..."where exactly am I" things...We're speking to a oriental dude who is speaking perfect english in this little town called Oostkamp in Belgium....Dutch, Flemmish, Chinese, Japanese, English, Korean, whatever!

I am left with one question: How is it that this dude speaks better English than anyone (yes any of the several emplyees) at the King's Wok down the street from my house back home?? Not trying to be ignorant here...but really, one has to wonder.

JUDO CHOP!!

2006-04-14T12:18:00.000-06:00

JUDO CHOP!!

This past Tuesday I got a chance to be a “crash test dummy.” At least a little bit of one, a very uncoordinated one at that. Not that “crash test dummies” are supposed to have any coordination, or even really be able to do anything that involves coordination at all….

To get back to this past Tuesday’s events, we got a chance to work on our crashing reflexes at a local Judo place, dojo, or whatever the technical term for it is…yes, I’m being a bit ignorant here, but that is besides the point (there really isn’t one). The basic idea was to work on developing reflexes for crashing that didn’t involve just planting your hand onto the ground and breaking your wrist, collar bone, or whatever else. Use your whole body, from your pinky finger to your toes. The whole thing was really simple, but very good to do. I know, you are probably asking why are you worrying about crashing? You should be worrying about racing your bike! Well, I’m sorry if I’m the one to inform you but if you “race” a bike you will inevitably crash. In my mind losing any fears of it will cause you to crash less, and when you do, crash better (safer). So you can “live to ride another day.”

I really haven’t done any of this flying through the air and tumbling stuff since my wrestling “career” in high school. My general comments lay along the lines of….training to be a cyclist, is training to be a cyclist and nothing else. You are not in shape for anything else! The evening started with some warm-up stuff that a few years ago would have been a cake walk…now I just felt incredibly uncoordinated and after a few times of rolling up and down the mats I couldn’t even stand up, literally. The whole frickin’ place was spinning! Things progressed from there to jumping over bikes and landing etc. Next Thursday we are supposed to go through actually crashing the bike…I’ll keep y’all posted. Maybe I will be a little less sore the next day as well.

All the hubub around Paris Roubaix

2006-04-11T13:03:00.000-06:00

All this talk about stardom! I know you all are eagerly awaiting to hear how the news segment went...

It ended up being about a 6 min. segment. With plenty of ads running up untill the actual segment. Of course there were plenty of shots of yours truly. A lot of the interviews ended up being shown...but only chosen clips. At this point I wish I was a bit more fluent with my Flemish, but I could get the basics...all of us were speaking english, but a lot of the running commentary was Flemish. A bunch of the shots from the Roubaix cobbled sections made the air, as well as a bunch of stuff with us working on our bikes etc. Unfortuantly (maybe fortunately), the massage fottage never made the air. I know, the modeling career took a hit on that one... Belgium just isn't ready for the Bretmiester!

Alright, after all the hype leading up to the Queen of the Classics...I'll leave a comment or two about the actual race. Hincapie...man that sucks, maybe that section only allows so many Americans to pass in a year...and we used it all up in filming our footage (trying to bring a little humor into a shitty situation here!). Maybe George needs to go get some Judo training. I'll leave that discussion for another day. UCI...what do you have officials for?? umm...yeah to interpret and enforce the rules...and once the decision is made, its done. For those of you that are a not as in touch with the cycling world, go to cyclingnews.com and read all the Paris Roubaix stuff...that will get you at least half way, then send me some questions, because there is/was tons of stuff flying around here (Belgium). FINI!

NOW INTRODUCING: BRET GLEMBOCKI...MALE MODEL

2006-04-07T11:54:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah, before you say male model be sure to add a dramatic pause. Again, I've been working on my PR skills...modeling well maybe just a little. A second day of being under the spotlight. I got a chance to show my stuff when the oppportunity arose for me to be the "model" for the massage segment of the Cycling Center report that those press folk have been working on all week...so all you ladies out there...fasten your seatbelts! Oh yeah, Big Tom V. if your reading...you better watch out, your newest competition has arrived!

Aside from flaunting my stuff, we got a chance to go to a few sections of the Roubaix cobbles and shoot some fottage...which ment multiple (meaning more than just one or two) runs up and down the cobbles. After that we headed over to the Roubaix velodrome. Lets just say that there are times when it is good to be a woman...ummmm let me rephrase, good to have a woman with you. On the drive to the Roubaix velodrome we ran into some road construction...the dudes working on the road just scoffed at us and looked as if they weren't going to let us pass at all. But, then the one operating the steam roller caught sight of Ann (who is driving the CyclingCenter bus, and is like a mother to all of us at the CC) and perked up a little, motioned for us to wait just a moment, and proceeded to roll out a section of road for us to pass on. Can you say service or what..."they freekin paved a road for us!" Well, lets just say Ann got a wink from a few other members of the road crew and we were on our way to the velodrome.

The segment is supposed to air on prime time so, we will see what happens. I've already seen a couple of clips advertising it so, LOOK OUT!

A piece of the chaos...

GONNA BE A ROCKSTAR

2006-04-04T11:25:00.000-06:00

Well maybe not quite a rockstar...we'll see this Friday evening when I get my debute on Belgian National TV. The truth of it is that it has been a pretty eventful week around the Cycling Center. With all the classics (big time races...Tour of Flanders, Paris Roubaix) going on in the area there has been quite a bit of hype. We have some of the Navigators team staying with us as well as a few other P-R-O's. In addition, the media has been showing up, with its focus around us...not the "PRO's"

Today I got to flaunt my good looks (you all sould be laughing right now) in front of the cameras. A few interviews, some action footage on the cobbles, and even me sharing some of my mechanical expertice (say it with a french accent)! Oh, and if any of you actually ever see it and somehow the part where they start to ask me questions about past and present winners of Paris Roubaix....um just disregard...I though they were talking about the Tour of Flanders...or something...um yeah...I gues you would have to also know that the interview took place before this years Paris Roubaix, and if Boonen wins this year...then it will all make sense and this last paragraph will be useless. Still, with me?? Don't worry if your not, it REALLY doesn't matter.

Look at it this way, when I get to race against a bunch of Belgians after being on their national TV...well lets just say it probably won't be a loving relationship.

Just a side note: I think working in a lab all winter turned me into a wus or something...I got a stupid blister on my hand while riding the cobbles for the photo op. yeah, wus, I know!

A day at the races....the "PRO" races

2006-04-02T11:53:00.000-06:00

Me at the start line for the Tour of Flanders, holding the lion of Flanders flag.

Note: Just a little wind.

The crowd at the center of Bruge before the start of the Tour of Flanders. Riders being presented etc.

...and you thought there was a crowd at the Superbowl.

Random picture of Bruge.

Cycling Center

2006-03-30T07:09:00.000-06:00

A nice little shot of the outside of the Cycling Center...home for the next 6 months.

9 MONTHS IN A NUTSHELL

2006-03-28T12:22:00.000-06:00

9 MONTHS IN A NUTSHELL

Its been quite a while since I have done much writing about my little adventures. I’ve been busy, yeah I know, its no excuse. I’ll run through some of the happenings I’ve been up to, as always feel free to send me comments, questions, or just tell me you like what you read. If you don’t like it…you know how it goes…I’m not forcing you to read on.
I returned from Belgium this past summer in June, continued racing in the US, had my up and downs, and continued working at good ol’ Wheel and Sprocket. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve worked summers there since I was 15.
At the end of the summer the opportunity came about for me to take on a position at a company called Johnson Diversey. It was a good move to make, at least in terms of future job opportunities, and it was money. Although, it did mean that I would be staying in Wisconsin for the winter. Not the most ideal thing for a cyclist looking to prepare for a whole season in Belgium. But hey, you do what you can do.
Back to the “job” thang. Johnson Diversey is a part of a fairly large family of companies. The best know is SCJonhnson. They make all sorts of consumer products, some being; Ziploc products, the Glade product line (shaving gel, air fresheners etc.), OFF bug repellent, etc.etc. Johnson Diversey is an industrial division. Meaning they make products for other companies…not the individual. I found a position in the Reseach Development and Engineering department, specifically, the laundry and warewash group. Warewash being industrial dishwshers, and laundry being obvious (at least I hope it is obvious). It might not sound that interesting, but remember I have degree in chemistry. With that said, it was pretty interesting, I wasn’t saving the world, but it wasn’t toooooo terrible. Besides, I got to deal a little with the European counter-parts in Utrecht (Netherlands)…eventually meeting them for a few brief minutes.
The job itself wasn’t redundant or too repetitive, so things stayed interesting, always some new project, or production emergency. Most of the work involved “wet” chemistry and working with and trouble shooting dispensing systems. I got to know some really great people with all those wonderful qualities like intelligence and good work ethic etc.etc. They were very accommodating when it came to flexibility in hours…as long as the work was done, everyone seemed happy. OK, enough of me trying to make my fall/winter sound all cool and stuff.
As you can guess, a solid part of the long winter miles were done on rollers. I have this love/hate relationship going with my rollers, we decided to have a trial separation…I’m sure she (yes my rollers are feminine) will come crawling back to me. On weekends I was able to sneek outside…usually, when it wasn’t snowing. We’ll see how long it takes for me to get my feet under me. Seeing as I have yet to get any racing in my legs.
I got a chance to stop in North Carolina for a few days before I headed to Belgium…which was very good, just wish I could have had some more time in some decent weather. I know it sounds like it, but I am not complaining…just well… discussing/writing, and by decent weather I mean just a bit more manageable, not ideal warm sunshine and nothing else…besides that would be a bit toooo cush.
This sort of brings me to the fact that I owe a lot of people a great deal for supporting me. I’m not going to go on with a big list because if you helped me out, even in the smallest way, you know who you are (at least I hope you do). So, just a great big THANKS to all of you, think of it like a great big hug!!....make it a bear hug!

North Carolina

2006-03-28T12:04:00.000-06:00

Aww...isn't it cute.

Location: Nanthahala Outdoor Center

The quiet little cabin across the street, up the single lane paved road for a mile, up the dirt road for another mile, from the NOC. Once you got passed the broken down trailers and packs of dogs on the first mile of road, it was really quite nice. Really, I liked it.

Back Again

2006-03-24T14:13:00.000-06:00

Busy, busy, busy.....yeah the past 9 months or so have flown by and I have been a bad little writer. So, its time to get back in the saddle again. In some respects, literally.

I'm back in Belgium again ready to rock and roll. Expect a few more articles describing the past 9 months or so, but for the moment here is a pick of some of us who spent a week or two in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. Anyone want some "boiled peanuts?"

Race Report 6 etc. etc.

2005-06-05T11:04:00.000-06:00

Race Report 6 etc. etc.

It’s been a little while since my last race report. I’ve been busy…well as busy as umm yeah…well lets just say that being a cyclist is 24 hour per day position. Anyway, I’ve done a bunch of races since the last race report, and I could write a ton about each but my fingers can only type so much.

So where to begin…well I’ll just give you a small taste of the action. Last week I got a chance to do a UCI 1.12 that was very similar to a kermis. Being in France, the start line was slowly creeping further and further forward as the final minutes ticked down to the start. A break went from the gun, about 14 guys and two of ours in it. Oh, and did I mention that there was a nice little rise…err hill, that was right up my ally. Being a bigger guy I seem to have this love hate relationship with hills and let’s just say that I think it is more on the hate side of things. I kept my nose close to the front of the peloton after putting in a little work to get there, and then proceeded to go with stuff that looked significant. The hill continually took its toll on me and with a few to go a large group went up to the break. It started to form on what I will now refer to as the “climb,” and I just didn’t have it to go with. I was at the point where I really couldn’t stand up on the bike anymore, all I really could do was sit a try to pedal. It was a bit frustrating and a small sign that my fitness still has a ways to go. But this is in no way an excuse for anything…especially not being in the break initially.

Another UCI and a kermis or two and my adventures across the pond come to a bit of a close. I must say that I feel that I have a lot more to accomplish hear, so leaving is a bit on the difficult side. I have learned more than I think I realize at the moment, and look forward to continually improving upon my abilities.

This is a time when I should take a few moments to thank everyone for all of their support, couldn’t have done it without you. Every little bit made a difference, all the way down to the handful of you who I don’t know outside of an e-mail exchange or two. All the encouragement, support, and interesting comments about my serious and not so serious diary entries were continually motivational. Alright, you get the point. All of you know who you are, so thanks.

I plan to continue with diary entries/updates on how the rest of the season goes. So check in from time to time. Maybe, my flight home will be as adventurous as the one over…lets hope not. Nice and uneventful would be my choice.

Some things are just different here: Part 30,000,000

2005-05-21T12:39:00.000-06:00

Some things are just different here: Part 30,000,000

Equine abundance-
The number of horses per capita here is rather high, at least as far as I can tell. Everything from miniatures to draft. One of the coolest things I have seen here so far is when people bust out the old wagons and hook up a team of horses to go for a Sunday afternoon ride. Mom, I know you’ll appreciate this one.

Jelly-
Jelly, preserves, whatever you want to call the stuff most people would spread on toast that isn’t butter. Even the cheep store brand stuff is ridiculously good.

Diesel-
Most vehicles here run on diesel, maybe all of you smartie pants knew this already, but I didn’t until I got here. Finding regular gasoline is like finding diesel back home. Not every station will have it. Hey, no spark plugs, longer running vehicles, maybe they’re on to something?? OK not going to go into the alternative fuel topic…

The Bio-farm-
I’m sure there are bio-farms back home, but about a week ago I wandered down to the bio-farm here in Hertsberg and they had some pretty cool stuff; natural almond butter, cashew butter, and even peanut butter. They were a bit pricy, but the peanut butter looks to be many times better than what the grocery store has, and might even be getting close to the good ol’ Holsum brand natural stuff from back home…but it still won't be quite the same. That will be for the next adventure to the bio-farm. BUT, the yogurt they have there is, I think, quite literally the best I have ever had. Its dangerous stuff, I can’t really read the ingredients so well, but I think they are using cream, whole milk and all that other stuff that spells trouble for the lean (or at least trying to be lean) cyclist.

Springtime in Belgium

2005-05-21T11:58:00.000-06:00

Springtime in Belgium:

One day about a week ago I was just riding along on one of my training rides, just an average training ride, nothing too special and it dawned on me that the farmers here in Belgium have come up with an amazing array of ways to spread manure on to the fields. I’ve done a decent amount of riding and training in rural Wisconsin and I have yet to see half of the elaborate machinery that they seem to have here. I must say there is no delicate way to explain this, but when you are riding down wind of a piece of machinery that is literally flinging the stuff in hay bail size chunks into the air, it just doesn’t make for a pleasant ride. Yet, it will definitely get you to speed up a bit, especially if your mind is wandering a little. Oh, and I forgot to mention that all of this dawned on me when I rolled up a little close behind one of these big ol’ pieces that liquefies the stuff and almost caught a splash…ummm yeah you’re all disgusted and grossed out now, but hey, I’m talking about reality here. You all eat food that grows in fields treated in a similar manner, so deal with it. Or send me an e-mail telling me how much you love this topic.

Equally numerous are the factories producing the manure. Every farm has at least a few cattle. Slightly different than what I am used to seeing back home. If a farm has cattle they usually have a good solid number of them, or none at all. Also, I feel the need to make note of the breed I believe is called the Belgian Blue. Man, these guys have been bred for sheer mass. I mean they look like one big muscle. They are either capable of kicking some serious a#@ or just tipping over on their stubby legs, not entirely sure which one.

All in all it has been pretty cool to see a country I have never seen before go from grey winter dull colors to springtime colors and smells…good or bad.

Race Report 5, UCI 1.2 Ronde van Overijssel - 5/8/05, and UCI 1.2 Omloop der Kempen - 5/9/05

2005-05-11T00:40:00.000-06:00

Race Report 5, UCI 1.2 Ronde van Overijssel - 5/8/05, and UCI 1.2 Omloop der Kempen - 5/9/05 (The US National Team experience)

This was the first time I have been in Holland and lets just say I have some impressions that beat out Belgium, especially in the weather department. At Overijssel it was rain, rain, and….oh yeah, more rain, and did I mention it was cold. At Kempen I got to see all four seasons and more, hail included. Yes, that stung a bit, and of course it had to be on the cobbled sections.

Hmmm….so what else do I want to say about these races?? Well, I was rollin’ with a little bit different of a crew than usual. I got a chance to start with the US National Team. I am very grateful to have gotten the opportunity. Overijssel started out pretty good from the gun, there was a crash before the one and only climb on the whole course, and a couple of random crashes on the climb. It then proceeded to shatter to pieces just after the top of the climb.

I’m going to focus on one of the races. So as to kindly keep all of your eyes from falling out of their sockets, and save my delicate little fingers.

Kempen was similar to Overijssel, but rolled out a bit slower and more nervous. Most of the starters had been at Overihisel as well. For future reference, when I say rolled out I mean somewhat comfortably sitting in your 53/16 or harder. Oh yeah, there was no climb, just two really long cobbled sections. I feel the need to mention that in Holland they like to allow 200 or so riders to start these races. That is a lot of bikes and people to cram through some of these small sections of road! Up until now, the UCI races I have done in Belgium had around 150 starters. Another 50 guys makes for a really nervous field…and did I mention that in Holland there seems to be even more random obstacles in the road, although the surface quality seems to be a bit better.

Riding at the front was a battle in itself. Man, I was ready to start throwing fists a number of times! Usually when you are in the top 30 or 40 there is a bit of rotation/flow going on, but it seemed that the million-and-one road obstacles kept disrupting this and adding to the nervousness of the field. So, I chilled a little further back until we got into Belgium. I then got closer to the front, and ended up sticking my nose in the wind a bit more than I wanted to, but it seemed to get me close to where I wanted to be. About 15 min after crossing the boarder the sh#! hit the fan. The shattering happened just before the cobbles in some crosswind sections. I was crying for a 54 or 55 tooth chainring while I was damn near spinning out my 53, ahhh!! My positioning had not been good enough and I got to cling to the sh!# end of the second echelon, until the couple of us that were in the gutter got shot into the third echelon and then into the caravan. I worked my way out of the caravan and got into a group that ended up catching a few other small groups that were ahead of it, but never getting close enough to the lead group. Frustrating because there was NO physical reason I should not have been in that front group.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2005/may05/kempen05

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2005/may05/overijssel05

Above, are links to the results of each of the races. Both were 200 km long. Note: no US rider finished. Not something I’m proud to say. It does bring some points to mind that I would like to make about racing in Europe vs. the US.

- The difficulty of many of the courses. You just wouldn’t see a race allowed to take place on some of these courses back home. One, there would be too many insurance problems. Two, racers would really hurt themselves. If the majority of the field was not used to these types of courses, I couldn’t imagine the carnage.
- There seems to be no such thing as a “mass sprint.” Maybe, a “bunch sprint” in some cases. There is just not that much left of the field at the end of these races. Everyone means business and is going to race aggressively from the beginning to end.
- Only a select few of the races in the US are 4 or more hours long, try naming a few…its pretty hard.
- Physical contact, who said cycling isn’t a contact sport??
- They actually know how to organize a road race here. I know most of you have at least seen a stage or two of the Tour de France. These interclub, or UCI races are not too far off in organization level. The caravan is there in full force. Support vehicles, team cars, motorcycles, etc. Sure there isn’t as much sponsorship money and advertisements associated, but all the basic workings are all there.
- Director sportif…not sure if most US teams actually know what this is, much less all of the behind the scenes stuff that should go on before/during a race.
- If you or the group you are with is 5 minutes back you get yanked. None of this “oh they paid the entry fee bla bla bla” so they should be allowed to finish…or they might catch the group…yeah right. 5 minutes is being extreamly generous. Its more likely to be on the order of a 1 maybe 2 minutes.

Alright, enough. That was longer than I had intended but I hope it was at least somewhat interesting for those of you who have been tuning in.

The Poo Egg and the Garbage Can

2005-05-03T13:29:00.000-06:00

The Poo Egg and the Garbage Can

On our weekly grocery runs 5 of us here at the Cycling Center decided to split the cost of some of the essential items dish soap, toilet paper, milk, eggs, etc. We usually end up buying a fairly decent batch of eggs. Here you can buy them in a flat or in a carton, they don’t refrigerate them at the store, and in general don’t seem to be washed quite as thoroughly as back home. It gives you a bit of the “fresh off the farm” feel, and I have no complaints about this.

These “fresh off the farm” eggs have usually been occupying one of the veggie drawers in the fridge. In every batch there seems to be one, just one, egg that has a nice spot of chicken excrement on it. This single egg will start out on the top of the pile and never get touched. With amazing effort everyone avoids this egg. My only question is…who took that egg last week. Brave man, brave man indeed.

Speaking of amazing daily efforts, the skill demonstrated in stuffing the kitchen garbage can far beyond its limits is starting to become a form of art. Of course it all boils down to not really wanting to take the garbage out, and a little bit of that rising to the challenge/ competitive instinct. But, man, this morning the top was ready to fall off (and I mean ready) and I still got that banana peel in there!! Ha, one more chance for someone else to have to take the garbage out, and struggle with that overflowing bag!

Back to the Fundamentals

2005-05-03T13:28:00.000-06:00

Back to the Fundamentals

Alright, so after racing for a number of years in the US I developed a pretty consistent routine. I have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done the day before a race, the day of a race, and in the hours before a race, and even (so I would like to think) during a race. Barring any drastic mishaps, I would effortlessly deal with any delays or small unexpected problems.

To dig into some examples…

If it is a weekend of racing that involves some (or tons) of car travel. I know enough to bring a cooler stuffed with some decent food, just in case the only viable food source near the hotel is a McDonalds. In most cases I will have good idea of what to expect with the type or level of racing (local race, NRC, collegiate…). I will recognize a majority of the teams and riders that show up. I will also be able to read all of the signs/postings at registration, and in most cases figure out where the f@#! the start line is!

All of the above items and much more are things that become routine and in most cases very much an instinct that requires less and less mental energy as time goes on. Now use your imagination, some of you may not have to, and make all those individual tasks require some, if not lots of thought. They add up quick (even with all of the amazing efforts by Ann and Bernard to alleviate stressors like this), and easily disrupt others that are still relatively easy to do…looking for the start line instead of going through your full pre-race/warm-up routine. Or in the days prior, trying to figure out a sports drink that doesn’t mess with you stomach during the race…now you’re an American who just started racing in Belgium! Now all you have to do is learn to recognize the good riders and be able to distinguish them from all the rest of their thirty million teammates…

The point of all this rambling is that simple things, fundamentals, never hurt to practice, review, and perfect before you really need them. Whatever the subject be…unless you are there to just slide by in whatever you do.

On the other side of the coin, you can’t waste energy thinking about stuff you have already figured out or have no control over.

The fundamentals will not make you win the race but, lack there of can easily lose the race.

PassPrijs Hekelegem, UCI 1.12, 4/25/05

2005-04-26T13:19:00.000-06:00

Race Report # 4:

UCI 1.12 – PassPrijs Hekelegem, 4/25/05

After my 14 day or so hiatus from racing, I got back into the swing of things again on Wednesday of last week with a nice little kermis. Things went alright, learned some more stuff, but nothing special with the results. For those of you who don’t know, I spent a little bit of time being sick with some Belgian bug or other. Which, I might add wasn’t a ton of fun. But hey, new country, new bacteria/viruses, so build up those antigens baby!

Now to the UCI race. Let’s see where to begin…well I’ll say I got my first “serious” does of cobbles. The course layout was technical, very technical. I think the longest section of straight road was the 3 km flat section of cobbles. Give me a big: OH, YEAH! The weather was pretty good. Things stayed dry for the race, but by the second half there was definitely a front moving in with some rain. The course consisted of a ~60 km loop that was done twice, and then 4 local laps, totaling something like 160 km. The main loop contained 5 cobbled sections. Three of them (sections 1,2, and 4) contained short steep climbs and were preceded by ½ to 1 km of “flatter” cobbles as well. The third cobbled section was totally flat but was about 3 km long, and the fifth was a shorter section through the town where the start/finish was. Usually if you were not on cobbles you were busy doing some fighter pilot simulation, diving through the millions of corners in one little town after the next.

The race hit the first cobbled climb at about 10 km in, so it went pretty good from the gun. I hit it with not good but not horrible position. I then proceeded to hit the 180 degree turn at the top and dive through the town below. As could have been, or to be more accurate, it was predicted that the break would go off at that first climb. And it did, it was THE break. I continued to race pretty much the same for the rest of the first lap and well into the second. Getting myself not in good, but not absolutely horrible positions before bad or technical sections of road…can you sense a little frustration coming on here?? Ummmm, yeah… Physically, I didn’t feel bad so I have no excuses, not that I would anyway! The only time I felt like I was in or getting near the red was on that second cobbled climb. Man, for some reason that one really hurt each time! As it worked out that second climb was the source of my biggest mistake of the day. I went into it the second time damn near on the back, ahhhh! OK, so obviously there was a split off the back when I came over that climb, so I got to work with a not so enthusiastic group to chase back on. I got back on at the beginning of the third flat cobbled section while simultaneously getting caught behind a pretty decent sized crash. I dug into some of the off road skills to go around and ended up with a group of 20-30 off the back (ahhh!!) of the ever shrinking peloton. That group got pulled on the first of the local laps, and so goes my race. Mental Frustration is the word/words for the day. I’m still milling over the details of my mistakes and trying to figure out why I was more nervous for this race than I should have been…I was riding not racing, defensively.

On the lighter side of things, can someone please explain to me how a pigeon got into the showers after the race?? I must say, it was pretty damn funny to see this pigeon just chillin’ in the showers. I also must put out an apology to the riders who were behind me while I was getting stung by the bee that flew into my jersey. It was a single file descent through one of those little towns and I was definitely not holding my line.

In respect to coffee:

2005-04-26T13:16:00.000-06:00

In respect to coffee:

So, just when I start to wonder if anybody is reading these diary entries/ race reports or whatever you would choose to call them, Barney (Austin’s father) shows up fresh off the plane from the US and hands me 2 lbs. of Starbucks! Ann and Bernard seemed to find it rather funny. I’ll just say that it made my freakin’ week, many thanks Barney! So, it just goes to show some things are really a bit different hear, but that makes the unexpected just that much better… mmmm…Starbucks.

Some things are just different here continued

2005-04-12T11:59:00.000-06:00

Some things are just different here continued...

Laundry -- so your underwear is dirty and your riding shorts are full of racing stripes...plan on an all day project to get those suckers clean. I doesn't make any sense at all, no matter how many times I think it through, why the washers would take longer than the dryers! But hey, they do. Oh yeah, and they are little pint sized things at best. Want to do a real load of laundry?? Plan on a least two while you spend time in Belgium.

Coffee -- I think that almost every person I talked to before I came over had said...don't worry all the coffe there is good. Well, I must say that I strongly disagree! I've tried a hanful of different store brands and haven't liked any of them. Not that I am some sort of coffee expert, but nothing even comes close to Starbucks. The brand that the guys who had been here before seemed to settle on is alright, much better than the first couple I tried, but I am thoroughly dissapointed. I guess I must be carefull in what I say because I have yet to venture out to any of the small coffee shops in/near Bruge. I have this feeling that my sentiments won't change much after visiting some of them.

Milk -- So you think you want a glass of milk...rrrright. So far most of what I have found at the grocery store has been milk of the form U.H.T. Meaning it has been essentially ultra pasturized...Ultra High Temperature. It doesn't need to be refridgerated till you open it. It doesn't taste like REAL milk. As far as I can tell it sort of tastes like powdered milk, sort of sweet, but not good enough to just drink a glass of. Actually, I would rather drink a glass of sour 'normal' milk. It is fine for cooking and alright on cereal.

So you got a nice car... well people hear seem to actually drive their 'nice cars.' Nice cars being Audi, BMW etc. etc. They don't leave it in the garage and polish it with baby diapers (cloth ones...duh) on the weekends. The freaking take them out for a drive. More than once now I have been passed on a little one lane farm road by a 'nice car' and he/she has been flying along at a pretty good clip. Most of the time while flying aling they have not hesitated to take it off the farm road to go around me or another car (yes, even through the mud). I just can't picture this happening in the U.S. Maybe its just me.
I mean no offence to any of you out there who have 'nice cars,' but I certainly hope you drive them!

Some things are just different here

2005-04-09T06:43:00.000-06:00

Some things are just different here:

You plan on traveling to another country and some of the first thoughts you have are what will be different and how will I deal with it? Well here are some of the things I have noticed. This list will probably continue to grow throughout my stay in Belgie.

Peanut butter – I don’t know how you can ruin peanut butter, but man they did a pretty good job of it! It comes in tiny little jars, for way too much $$. Especially considering one brand even caries the description of “American” peanut butter. For those of you that know me, you will understand why this is first on the list.

Chicken – Freakin’ expensive…It has been explained to me that a year or two back they had some troubles with diseased/unsanitary chicken and that the price went up because of the costs of operating under new standards that have been set. Oh, yeah and the cuts aren’t quite as clean as what you are used to back home. You get to trim the extra fat off.

Beef – While we are on the topic of food…the beef seems to come in one of three ways: beef steak, beef fillet, and ground (definitely not ground sirloin). What about New York strip, Rib eye, etc. Maybe I’m just missing something?? Don’t get me wrong, the butcher shop in town is awesome and beats the grocery store any day…but how do I ask for the part of the cow that I want??

Buzzed – Everyone here (for the most part) seems to be very good drivers, and appear to have a good feel for the dimensions of their vehicle. This translates into, we know you are there on a bike and we are going to pass you, but we will give you a minimal amount of space…not that there is much space for passing on some of these roads. I have no problem with this, it just takes a little getting used to because back home that type of driving translates into: I have this big ass SUV and have no clue as to how f@#%#! big it is…or I’m on my cell phone and didn’t notice the red light I just ran much less the cyclist in front of me. So it took a little time to turn off my instinctive reaction of waving fists and launching water bottles at these people.

Town hopping – something you learn to do quick…or all of your 2 hour rides will turn into 7 hour epics. Nothing here has any sort of grid pattern to it…just huge labyrinth of roads and more roads. If your lucky every once and awhile you’ll see a sign with the name of a town on it and hopefully you’ll recognize it.

Stores close – I am no longer in the land of 24 hour quick-e-marts. If I go on a long ride I need to plan ahead. Stores closes and most of them close at random times and days. Bakeries and not gas stations are more predominant and the most likely place that you would stop to refill bottles and get quick snack…if they are not closed.

Bike paths – If you are on a bike path and need to pass other riders, all you have to say is pardon or passop and they will instantaneously move to they right. That is if they are not already there. Even the 100 year old great grandma will do this. None of this…I’m in my little bubble and will get startled and almost fall off my bike if someone were to try to pass me, while I ignorantly veer from side to side on the bike path.

16 Boucles de L'Artois, UCI 1.2, 3/2/05

2005-04-05T02:12:00.000-06:00

Race Report #3:

16 Boucles de L’Artois, UCI 1.2, 3/2/05

As it was explained to me this was one of the bigger UCI amateur races of the month. I seemed to be a bigger production than the one I did earlier. By the way, this one was in northern France. It started at the center of town and had the riders “village” set up inside of a festival like atmosphere, pretty cool!
The course layout was a point to point with three 12 km finishing loops. It contained roughly two dozen or so hills/power climbs with about a handful of them steep enough to make your legs cry out as you crested the top and proceeded into the barren wind swept flats on the top. The finishing loops contained one steep cobbled climb out of town and then one fairly gradual, but ever increasing in gradient, longer climb. The cobbled climb could be compared to snake alley if you straightened it out, made it actual cobbles, made them about three times bigger in diameter, and made their condition worse…hmmm maybe not so comparable.
The start of the race had a 4 km neutral roll out. Lesson 1 for the day: the French riders are rather sneaky, etc., etc. So, one minute I am rolling through the city streets (with no sidewalks, just buildings to bounce off of) fairly close behind the lead car, and then all these frenchies come out of the wood work. Literally, coming out of back allies etc. making it damn near a dog fight to be near the front as we are funneling down ever smaller streets.
10 km to the first significant climb and I’m a hagin’ out fine but a bit on the rivet when we are strung out in the open, hmmm better keep riding smart, maybe smarter. Alright about 15 km in, the blood is starting to flow through the muscles, and it is time for me to stop riding like a little school girl. I work my way into the top 20-30 and start trying to do my job…which was to basically take the pressure off of Austin and Jason by getting in any breaks that looked halfway decent…meaning breaks containing more than just a couple a screwballs, and if I got myself in one that stuck...well obviously make the most of it. Also, I was to get them to the local laps in good condition.
At about 70 km or so was the feed zone. OK spread out a bit and get over to the right. Ann is second from the end…dodging a few rolling bottles on the way in for the mussette bag I must have made a slight miscalculation (yes, I’m a dork) and part of the bag hit the shifter and proceeded to impact the front wheel…essentially knocking it out from under me and sending me half rolling, half superman like into the ground. That stung a bit, not only physically, but a bit on the pride too…man I felt stupid! It resulted in NO broken bones, which is a good thing, but it took a bit of a toll on the trusty steed. So that was my race.
Jason, Austin, and Steve finished with what could be called the third group. Once things hit the local laps what was left of the field shattered. Roughly 60 of 190 finished. The rest worked hard to make sure that those guys were there at the local laps.
In my last race report there was some commentary on cornering in a kermis, well that still doesn’t make complete sense to me. But, the cornering in the UCI races does…at least somewhat. It is based on wind direction for the most part. For example if you turn right into a section that will have a cross headwind from the right, things will slow way down and everyone will shy to the outside…meaning no diving through the inside of the corner and getting blasted by the wind, unless you aren’t riding so smart or feel you have some superhuman strength..
Kind of a short race report…but hey what do you want, a detailed description of my road rash!

Bret Glembocki

Zwevezele - Kermis, 3/28/05

2005-03-29T13:44:00.000-06:00

Race Report #2:

Zwevezele - Kermis, 3/28/05

Baby steps would be a good phrase for my first round of racing in Belgium. The second race I did, which was last week turned out not horrible, but less than spectacular after exploding all over the road. I spent the majority of the fallowing week trying to find all the pieces to my legs. So, after a UCI race and a kermis I did a little bit of learning. First rule of Belgian racing: any corner greater than or equal to 90 degrees will involve coming to an almost complete stop and then accelerating to 50-60 km per hour. Oh, yeah and if your are Belgian you have to do it in your 53-11. If the corner is greater than 90 degrees you ride at it like there is no turn whatsoever…same goes for roundabouts, which are of course entirely optional if you have the skills you can just bunny hop the whole damn thing. No, I’m not joking.
The basic course layout was flat with a long headwind section out of town with a slight cross/tailwind on the way back in. This was fallowed by and uphill to the finish and a couple of turns through the town and past the local bar. 20 laps that totaled 120k or so.
This weeks kermis went better than the last two, no incredible results, but a finished race. At least it shows I’ve learned a thing or two. Steve made the main split, so that was a good thing. Unfortunately, a group of seven guys had snuck off just before the main split that happened at about 1.5 hours into the race (slightly over halfway). Steve ended up 17th and made a few euros.
I ended up somewhere in the 30s. It was a solid race, most of the day was spent in a strung out single file line, with occasional bunching up on the farm road before the left hander to the uphill finish. Another option I had was to get in front of that line and mix it up a bit….hmmm after a couple of goes at that I quickly realized it wasn’t that great of an idea for me, at least at this point in time. I must say that it felt good to get into a little bit of a grove and get things opened up without exploding all over the road. Additionally I felt the exquisitely unique, bottom of the cassette thud as the chain slips into the good ol’ 11 tooth more than a couple of times. Feel the burn…
So, now the basic game plan was to stay near the front but not at the front and hope to make the split. Seemingly simple, but getting in that split is one confusing matter right now (more so than usual), mainly because tactically I feel like I have been turned completely upside down. I don’t know who is who. I had trouble differentiating between who is strong and who is really strong…at least I know they are all strong…even the chubby dude that was trying to chat with me before the race.
One other thing that is very different about the racing here is that when they try to announce “Bret Glembocki,” they actually pronounce it right…wow amazing no more “Bret Gldsaljfdslkhfhjlkh.”

Bret Glembocki

Bike Fit

2005-03-25T09:33:00.000-06:00

Bike Fit

3/25/05

I had tried to get the new bike dialed in before I left, but there really just wasn’t the time to do things right. The old Colnago road like a dream and seemed very dialed in. So, I tried to set things up on the new Orbea (both, were curtasey of Novacyclsprort/ISCorp) with the measurements from the Colnago…hmmm things just didn’t feel right. I guess I would attribute some of this to the different frame geometries etc. I thought I had gotten things pretty close with the help of CarrieAnn, but then I had to go and mess with stuff some more. All this ment was that I would have to make sure I got a bike fit as soon as I could after arrival, and that is what I did. Unfortunately this was after my wonderful lactate test, and after Dr. Dag told me to get my fit straightened out…”was it that obvious??” I thought as I rode home from the test. Both him and Ann just shrugged their shoulders and said the bike just looks to small, and then went on to say that they were no experts on bike fit.
Down to the Bike Fit…It was definitely and interesting experience in itself. The old guru like gentleman seemed to know his stuff. Not to mention it took about three hours of poking, prodding and some dismantling of my bike. I got measurements taken from every angle. Some of the instruments he used were very homemade, but appeared to do their specific job very well, especially the one that measure your inseam, ha! After all, he supposedly had quite a repertoire of pros and those alike that he has fitted successfully.
I must say that I wish I could understand Dutch, seeing as that is all he spoke. Ann did a fair amount of translating, at least the important stuff. I must say, though, that I wish I could have understood the little stuff he was saying. He seemed very knowledgeable, especially when I asked a question. He would answer with about three pages worth of answer, and I would get about one translated. I’m not trying to say that the translation effort by Ann wasn’t good, just that I felt some of the small details were lost. The one thing I could understand was that whenever he dropped something etc. he said “damn it.” So, I figured out one more word/phrase…I think that makes my total about three know.
Right now it is about a week later, and things are starting to feel pretty comfy again, but it took a little getting used to. I must say that the during the race a day or so later I had some weird cramping etc. going on, but I have yet to see anymore. So, we’ll see how things go this weekend.

Gent-Iepers UCI 1.2

2005-03-21T02:54:00.000-06:00

Race Report 1:

UCI 1.2 Gent-Iepers, 3/13/05

I have been here at the Cycling Center in Belgium for just under a week now and found out only the other day that my first race here would be a UCI 1.2. This was a bit unexpected. I had anticipated my first couple of races to be kermeses and then hopefully later on be selected for some UCI races, so as you can imagine I was stoked to be selected, but quite anxious as well.
For those of you who may not know, a kermese is race that is somewhat comparable to a local race, and a UCI race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union. I am not by any means saying that a kermese is easier, especially seeing as I have not even done one yet.
Alright, back to the race. We arrived a little under two hours early and it was an impressive spectacle. There was more support here for an amateur race than I have ever seen for any race in the US.
The race layout was a flat jaunt (about 70 km) out of Gent to a loop near Iepers that was done twice. The section out of Gent included a couple of cobbled sections and for the most part was into a solid head wind. The loop included 3 short steep climbs and after doing it a second time it went up a cobbled climb called the Kemmelberg, and then 30 km into Iepers to the finish. 196 lined up to start, and a beautiful 35-38 degrees Fahrenheit.
So, right now you are probably asking; what about YOUR race Bret, come on lets hear the details! Out of Gent things started out pretty fast and intense, but nothing unmanageable. Things seemed to be staying together, especially since it was a head wind most of the way. I was working on just getting comfortable and moving about in the field, dealing with the five thousand roundabouts, dodging the millions of random objects/medians, and trying to get near the front for the cobbled sections. O.K. so open your eyes as wide as you can and then open them and inch or two wider…that’s how I felt at the beginning. “Bright eyed and bushy tailed,” I think is how the saying goes, then mix in a bit of adrenaline. Aside from the course itself, the riders showed a level of aggression that was entirely new to me, and having the stars and stripes all over your back didn’t help much, either.
By the time we got 50 km or so into the race, I noticeably started to relax a bit and have to say that I liked the level of aggression, when people were making a move or doing something they did it, they didn’t hesitate, balk, or any of that stuff. The cobbled sections weren’t too bad. I made it out of most of them in alright, but not great, position.
Things are going alright, made it to the loop section and the first feed zone is coming up. Good I’m getting a bit low on water, the road is pretty wide right now, nothing too much going on at the front, so I slide up a bit more. The guys in front of me start slowing, and I’m thinking why are we breaking…were almost completely stopped now…oh, were turning onto a farm road with a cross wind, hmm this is going to sting a bit. Made it through that fairly unscathed, and here is the feed zone, awesome! Only problem, I had to drop back to the near tail end of the field to get a feed, no problem relax, and ease my way back up the field. I look ahead and all I can see is wide (2 + lanes) road in front of me. The outside of the field starts moving up pretty aggressively, hmm what’s going on? Oh, and guys in front of me are locking rear tires up, time for another farm road into a cross head wind. On a side note, these farm roads are one lane wide, and I mean one SMALL lane, your big SUV would probably have trouble with a good deal of them. This doesn’t look so good right now, I along with all the guys in front of me, have a foot down and are standing still (or attempting to ride through the farm field next to us). Yeah, race tactics and knowledge about the race seem to go a long way here. So, after closing about a million gaps that opened up in the single file line that formed on that tiny farm road, Bret’s huge and powerful legs cried out (ha!)!! So goes my first UCI race.
Afterward, I didn’t feel as bad as I did at first, seeing as this section cut the field in half. Unfortunately, none of the other Cycling Center guys finished either. Still. It would have been nice to see at least some of us do well, but supposedly this is a pretty tough race among races.
All the guys from the Cycling Center that did the race had all been here before and done UCI races in the past. They were ALL extremely kind in terms of offering advice before, and after the race. For example, taking the time to explain to me that if you have a bad moment or are dropping back to the car for a feed in the race, to take your time moving back up through the cars, and not try to plow through them all at once like I (stupidly) was trying to do. Other small bits of advice pertaining to things like reading the field etc. should prove to be priceless in the future.

Bret Glembocki

Crazy People, Crazy Travels

2005-03-12T12:31:00.000-06:00

I'm safe and sound at the Cycling Center. It was an interesting trip to say the least....got stuck in Warsaw for 4 or 5 hours where it seemed like they were trying to find the plane(literally)...and when I finally got to Brussels the door to the airport entrance was jammed and the whole plane stood waiting for about 20-30 min inthe runway...then after getting in the airport I discovered I had missed the last train for the day...hmmm what fun! So, I eventually got a call through to Bernard, who is currently in the US. He helped coordinate things with Ann(his wife) and eventually I got to the Cycling Center after she drove to the airport and picked me up. After all that she then fed me at about 1:30 in the morning. Oh, and did I mention that I got stuck with a broken seat on my flight out of O'hare, thats a story in itself! hmmm...I think I understand why people make those polish jokes...LOT airlines was a perfect example. Anyway the bike seems to have made it in one piece...but it looked like they ripped through it about ten times at the airport. The wheels got knocked around a bit, but nothing I can't fix. The Cycling Center is quiet impressive so far, there are only about 8 of the 20 or so guys that will eventually be here for the spring season.

Early Start to a New Season

2005-03-02T08:20:00.000-06:00

Alrighty, so I have just returned home, good old Wisconsin. It hasn't warmed up one bit since I left. I think the same snow that was on the ground when I left is still here...anyway I am glad to have a chance to stop at home for a week and a half, relax a bit and gather my thoughts before I head off to Belgium. Also, I owe many thanks to my uncle for putting up with me and letting me hang out for the winter and train...and putting up with the incessant Cartoon Network viewing.

I started the season off bright and early this year. Before I left AZ, I put in a couple of days of racing. The first race I did was just a local circuit race in McDowell Mtn. Park. I was quite anxious to just get out there and race. I hadn't actually raced my bike since Superweek of last year (July), when I ended my season early by getting a little too friendly with some of the steel barriers and breaking some bones in my right hand. Anyway, back to the race, it went alright. I definately felt like I hadn't raced in quite some time, but all in all I felt pretty good...maybe not good enough to go chasing down any breaks but it is still very early in the season for me.

The fallowing weekend I went on to do the Valley of the Sun stage race. This was a little higher profile than the local race I did earlier, and the field was for the most part full. It started off with a individual time trial...hmmm I got to the start line with my super duper aero mini clip-ons and the second I turn the cranks over once the sky starts to open up...yes an even better advantage than the clip-on and 32 hole wheels. I pegged my heart rate where I wanted it and got into a grove. I got to the turn around and realized that I had not been going hard enough...I wasn't hurting enough at the halfway point...grrr, so I said to myself I need to f@#!@# pick up the pace! So, I did. In the end I was about 50 seconds slower than I thought I was currently capable of...

The next day was a 90 mile road race, in which I saw more rain than sun. Hmmm, maybe we need to change the name of the race...a bit ironic, yeah I think so. I felt good for the race, it was plenty easy to get in some of the mix at the front, but I definately needed to be carful to not over do it. The little cimb to the finish (~500 ft.) took its toll by the 6th time up it. No, super results but it wasn't an easy race because there were only about 60 or so finishers. Note: you have to finish the previous stage to continue the next day.

Sunday, the day to the criterium. Finally there is some sun, and it almost feels hot to me. For the most part things went the same as yesterday, with the exception that I had a near miss with a crash with 2 laps to go...hmmm I gues I should be glad to not have crashed and not worry about the results, once again it is early for me...at least I tell myself.

At both of these races I got a chance to speak with Bernard, who runs the Cycling Center over in Belgium, and that was the main reason I came to these races. It was good to talk to him, it eased at least some of the anxiety I have over traveling to Belgium...hey all you world travelers give me a break I've never been overseas before!

Winter Training

2005-02-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

I am currently in Phoenix, AZ laying down the foundations for what I belive will be a strong and successful season. The main focus of my time here is to prepare for the spring classics season I will be participating in at the Cycling Center in Belgium. I have basic training guidlines that have been laid out by the Cycling Center's Dr. Dag (aka US Postal/Discovery Doctor). The point that has been most stressed is that I am to make sure that I have TWO resting days per week...no matter how excited I get for the upcoming season.
I have been here in Pheonix for almost four weeks now and things have been going pretty well. On most days I have felt pretty strong and I feel that most of my efforts have been moving me in a positive direction.