Onwards. Upwards. Forward. Moving ahead. Looking up.

Looking forward to the future. I’ve had a few good days of racing, training, and learning. Some highs and lows in both races. But all in all, lots to look forward to and more lessons to transfer from my brain to my legs. Of course, I always a higher result on the score sheet. (Who doesn’t it?)

But I can take satisfaction with the small successes from each race and really from each lap of the race.

If there is one thing I’ve learned this weekend is that a clean ride really is a fast ride. This is the trick to the sport of cyclo-cross. Going fast. Keeping the feet moving. Stopping the brain from doing too much work. Staying loose. And most importantly, staying upright. But on the flipside, a true sign of riding on the edge and pushing your limits, is when you hit the deck a few times. Granted, hitting the deck is not optimum. But mistakes have to be made to learn.

This being said, I’m happy to have stayed upright on my three hours in the snow. Had a great ride today. It has warmed up a bit and the wet roads were a nice change from the crazy snow and wind we experienced at Kalmthout.

Not sure what is up for tomorrow – I think recovery. On Christmas Day, we are off to Zolder to pre-ride the Zolder World Cup course and then on Boxing Day, I’ll be racing in the World Cup. Pretty cool way to spend Christmas. Definitely a true cyclo-cross Christmas!

Alright, I’m out for now. Time to chill out with the gang at the house here and watch Four Christmases. Hope your Christmas week is not too crazy. See you at Zolder.