Well, that late night fervor that I expressed last night was still with me this morning. I kind of new it would be. That’s just the way I am. So after a big weekend of travel and a late night, I was up early this morning to get in my first ride of the day before running some errands.

Literally out the door as the sun broke through. Great way to start the day with a smooth recovery ride. No SRM. Just me, the bike and some newish roads. I really didn’t have time to get lost today. So I stuck to a simple route. The plan was to do an out-and-back. So I pedaled my way to Zichem and then took a right turn. I ended up in Scherpenheuvel. I had first been to Scherpenheuvel in the summer of 2007 when I was here for two months of road racing. This little town features a basillica. I rode to the basillica to check it out – unfortunately it is under wraps – looks like cleaning of the facade is being done. I made my way through this little town and then headed back to Blauberg. A good little ride to clear my legs and head.

I was quickly off for a few errands – return one car and pick up the new car. The new car is the ultimate cycling vehicle: Renault Kangoo. Sliding back doors. Back seats fold flat. Massive amounts of head room. I’ll get to test it out on Wednesday when I race in Niel. I attempted to get my phone sorted out but the phone expert was away so I’ll return to the electronics shop tomorrow.

Zipped home and got ready for the second ride of the day. The aim of the afternoon ride was to check-out the trails in Averbode. Averbode has a pretty amazing Abbey and a big beach/recreation area. This works out to some pretty good riding trails. I bumped into Jos on my ride there so she took me the rest of the way and showed me the trails. I managed to put together a pretty good little course that connects some steep climbs, sand, descents, a bit of road and more trails. Looking forward to going back on Thursday to practice. I did get in a couple of standing starts. I want to work in the standing starts to pretty much every ride I do. It is strange, when I practice them I truly do “blast” off the line and I’m moving rather quickly. But for some reason I can’t harness this same aggression and explosiveness at the start of races. I’m starting to think it is more mental than physical…

Well, not much else going on. Racing again on Wednesday in Niel. I’ll watch the video tonight to get an idea of the race course. As I mentioned yesterday, Jos was a massive help on the weekend. Not only was she my pit man, she also took some photos of me during the race and one of me and Nikki warming up in “our tent”.

Thanks again for the kind words and emails of support. Couldn’t do this without you helping me along. Okay, off to watch some race video. If you’re in Ottawa, hopefully you can get out and enjoy the fine weather.