Last weekend there was a special ride for Erwin Vervecken and his fans. This was to be Erwin’s last ride as he officially retired from the sport of cyclo-cross. My friend Luc Van Der Meiren, participated in this race. Luc was generous to write a race report for us. Many thanks Luc for taking the time to tell us all what it was like.

Erwin Vervecken’s Retirement

On Saturday 27/02/2010 Erwin Vervecken said goodbye to cyclocross and topsport! For all his fans and cycling colleagues he planned a big mass-event in his hometown of Herentals (Belgium). Everyone who wanted to take part in this event was welcome. If you had a mountainbike or a ‘cross bike you could ride along with the greatest riders off cyclocross. (Participants: men elite: Zdenek Stybar (World Champion), Sven Nys, Niels Albert , Kevin Pauwels (my local hero), Bart Aernouts and Erwin Vervecken himself of course; elite women: elite Daphny Van Den Brand, Helen Wyman, Nikki Harris, Christine Vardaros, Joyce Vanderbeken and Nicole De Bie-Luyten. Even ex- collegues took part in this race! I saw Roland Liboton (7 times world champion), Danny De Bie and many others on the starting line!

But before we started our race there was a special race for kids, they really enjoyed their own race! After their race they got a package with all kinds of stuff in it, from lots of sponsors such as sports drinks and food.

At 2.30pm it was our race. The whole night and morning it rained a lot, so the track in the field and woods from Herentals was very, very muddy! We had to choose between two distances: 20k or 40k. (2 or 4 laps of 10k). There where 3 starting boxes: first box was for the elite men and woman, next box was for all riders with another license and the third box was for the whole bunch of freeriders. With almost 750 people it was not easy to have a fast start. The start was on a football field, but after 200m the road was only 3m wide so it was important to have a good start. My brother and I started at the rear of the pack, because he said he would do it on a slow tempo! But after 200 m we stood still, then we rode a few meters and back of the bike, walked a few meters and back on the bike again! First half lap was very muddy and all singletrack, if you wanted to pass then you must go trough deep mud and water. The Elite men and woman had a clear track so they started really fast!

Just before I ended my first lap I was passed already by the head of the bunch, they rode two times faster than me!!! I think I made a wise decision to do only 20k (2laps)! The pro’s did 4 laps and they had already taken a shower before I ended my two laps! They are really fast, when they passed me, I almost caught a cold!!! In my last lap I made a mistake on a little downhill and fell of my bike and bruised my ribs! Ouch!!!

At the end of the race it was Erwin Vervecken himself who won, behind him the other pro’s made a show of honor and applauded the man who stopped his beautiful career! Afterwards there was a big party for everyone! All the pro’s and fans enjoyed themselves with food , drinks and dance! Then Erwin hung his bike on a hook and that was the really end of his career! Now his new career as sport marketing manager can begin by Golazo Sports, focusing on cyclocross and mountainbiking!

I’m still recovering from my bruised ribs but I was glad that I was there!

(Thanks again Luc for taking the time to write a race report! Greatly appreciated.)

In a word – awesome. That was how the much anticipated Tuesday ride was. It was great to be out pedaling and moving forward rather than pedaling in place.

I hit the road shortly after 10 a.m. The sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue. I bundled up with all my top winter riding gear and got busy. It was just so soothing to be out and feeling my body power me through the air. My legs ticked over nicely finding a relaxed and smooth rhythm.

No SRM for me today. Focus right now is on high cadence and getting back into the training groove. Perfect – just what I need right now. I pedaled along through Barrhaven to Richmond onto Stittsville and then finally ending up at Marc’s office in Kanata. All on my trusty Stevens Super Prestige.

It took a bit to get used to being around cars again. Didn’t realize how spoiled we are in Belgium to have the amazing bicycle path system and very quiet country roads to explore. I think most motorists were shocked to see a cyclist out on the road! Extra bonus of the ride is that the roads were completely dry.

There was a bit of a headwind but, with the ‘cross gearing, it wasn’t an issue. Besides, I think I was smiling too much to notice the headwind. The ride flew by and before I knew it I was putting the bike in my car. Sigh. Ah well, I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

Not sure where I’ll go on Wednesday. Most likely I’ll hit up some of my favorite training loops. Barrhaven – Richmond – Pierce’s Corners? Guess I’ll just have to see where the spirit takes me.

Yes, I’m writing about the Tuesday ride on Monday. Just chalk it up to eagerness. I’m so keen to start training again. I might even go to bed early so that Tuesday comes faster…

Since we’ve had some pretty darn fine early spring weather, I’ll be hitting the open road tomorrow. That’s right. No trainer time for me. I’m going to put on some layers, wrap myself in my trusty neck tube and face the elements. It is going to be a good one. A nice easy 90 minutes focusing on cadence rather than power. Perfect way to ease back into the training mode.

I did ride outside on Sunday. I had this crazy idea that even though it has been very warm, the trails wouldn’t be soft. Silly me. They were so soft it was like riding in rice pudding. Ah well, it wasn’t cold out. So I powered the trusty mountain bike back into Barrhaven and did a little tour of this growing suburb. I just rolled along listening to my music and enjoyed being outside. The easy hour flew by in no time. And it was just what my tight quads needed after my running escapades on Saturday.

Yep, that run really did a good job of reminding me how hard running really is. Everything was smooth as silk on Saturday afternoon. But by Saturday night after enjoying a fine dinner with the Hoppner family (thanks again for the great meal and night out), my quads, calves, even my feet – had seized up into tight wads of tightness. Sigh, suppose this is what I get for running a bit too far and a bit too hard for my first run in over 4 months. But it was worth it. The run was awesome – loved hearing the heavy breathing and feeling my legs power my body through the air.

Today has been pretty mellow. There wasn’t any riding on the calendar today. Just a core/stretch day. So I hit up my fave yoga studio for a 90 minute hot power yoga class. It was awesome. The focus today was on the splits… Not a friendly move for a cyclist with tight hip flexors. But like the run, it was all good. I love seeing how far I can push my body and how long I can hold the poses. The instructor for the Monday morning class is excellent and she is also addicted to pushing her body. We did so many planks (I think four of them – all held for a minute each) and then more ab work. Did I say it was an awesome class? Well in case I didn’t – the class was awesome. I had a nice walk home soaking up the fresh air and enjoying the feeling that yoga leaves me with.

And now I look forward to tomorrow. I’ve already got a ride planned out. An easy roll out to Richmond, then after a few twists and turns, I’ll point myself towards Kanata and finish off at Marc’s office. Luckily I can shower at his office. Then we’ll go out for a nice lunch and I’ll take off with the car to do some errands. Sounds like a pretty darn good way to spend a Tuesday. Ride. Lunch. Errands (i.e. Sbucks coffee and computer time).

By the way, I occasionally post here about different recipes I’ve discovered. Well, I tested out two new recipes last week: chicken cordon bleu and eggplant lasagna. Both recipes were from Clean Eating Magazine. Both were amazing. They were given the “make again” rating. The chicken cordon bleu was uber easy. The eggplant lasagna is a new favorite – who knew that using eggplant instead of lasagna noodles would be so tasty? I also made beet oat squares (thanks to Mical Dyck for posting the recipe) – these are really good as well. The purple color is a knock-out.

Alright, I best be off. Time for a smooth epsom salt bath and some time with Rouleur magazine. (I’ll be careful to not get the pages of this precious magazine wet. Hint if you are thinking of my birthday (April 13), well put Rouleur magazine on the idea list…)

Just a quick note to let you all know that I’m still here, waiting for the snow to melt. This weather is really doing a number on the outdoor bike riding opportunities. I had a few really awesome and challenging mountain bike rides. So yesterday after three days of what felt like constant snow, I rolled my mountain bike out and hit up the trusty neighbourhood trails.

Well to put it simply, the trails were not rideable. At least not by me. The nice firm hard-packed snow had turned to soupy slush. I could ride for five feet and then I’d sink into the slop and have to clip out and then get going again. Really it felt like riding in the deep sand dunes at Koksijde… Part of me new it would be good to keep trying, because clearly there is a way to ride in these conditions, and a skill that probably would transfer to sand riding. But it was really hard work and rather frustrating. I reminded myself that I’m still in my rest and recovery phase and that this type of riding probably doesn’t fit into the “easy relaxed loose riding”. I decided to check out some of the bike paths around the Sportsplex… I forgot that I don’t live in Belgium. Rather I live in Ottawa, Ontario where the bike paths aren’t plowed…

All this to say, I’ll try again tomorrow. The plan is to hit up the Sportsplex trails again and learn how to ride in the sinking sloppy slush. This will be a useful skill to learn and should be transferable to the ‘cross bike. If anything, I’ll get out and spin my legs for a bit.

Tuesday is the day. The day I start training again. I’m so looking forward to Tuesday. And yes, I’m looking forward to the trainer. I just need to get back on the saddle and start working towards my 2010 – 2011 season goals. To say that I’m stoked for the upcoming season would be an understatement. This past season was pretty darn good so I’m charged up to see what the next season brings.

Have a good weekend. And cross your fingers for some decent riding weather. If this warm weather keeps up, we’ll be able to ride outside on our road bikes pretty soon…

Dudes, it is almost time to start training again. Yes, I know most of you are training right now. Maybe you’re at a training camp somewhere warm or sweating it out on your trainer. Some of you are probably already racing on the road. Not me. I’m in my off-season break. This time when I don’t ride and I attempt to “not think” about bikes. So far so good. This is week four of the break. And thankfully, the last week of the break.

Call me crazy but I’m kind of looking forward to riding the trainer in the basement. My last race was on Jan. 31 and I’ve ridden only three times since. Granted those three rides were pretty darn awesome. Lots of fun. I dug my old mountain bike out of the garage and hit up the snowy trails down the street from my place. What fun! I’d never ridden in the snow much before (apart from the odd ‘cross race…). I really enjoy being out there spinning my legs out and getting a feel for the mountain bike.

My brain is clear. My heart is pumping. And I’m pretty sure I’m smiling. It is so refreshing to be out amongst the trees, birds, squirrels and blue sky. It is really quite warm in the woods as well. The extra bonus is that crashing in the snow isn’t that bad since the snow is rather deep!

Had a great talk with my coach Steve Weller of Bell Lap Coaching yesterday. This guy has been instrumental in my success on the bike. He really knows his stuff and most importantly he has the ability to pull me back when I want to just go out and ride and ride and ride… Steve is also excellent at really listening to what I’m saying – hearing between the words. We talked about the plans for the next few months and the summer. We’ve made a few tentative plans and have once again decided to change things up this spring/summer. Last year I hit the gym for some serious weight lifting. This year, we’re switching gears a bit and instead of the gym, I’ll be spending more time in the yoga studio, running, mountain biking, and working on core strength. All this with the goal of making a faster, stronger, and more technical cyclo-cross racer. Looks like I might even go to camp. Yep – mountain bike camp. Pretty cool eh?

My “training” resumes next week. But this first four weeks will be pretty loose. Some calm easy rides to ease back into things. I’ll be going to yoga 3 – 4 times a week and adding a new core strengthening program. Also some fun snowy mountain bike rides in the calendar. To say I’m looking forward to the next four weeks would be an understatement!

And in more exciting news… I’m going to Florida at the end of March. Four days in Orlando. Cool. I’m going down to help support KingsBridge at the Disaster Recovery Journal Spring World conference. KingsBridge is not only a long-time sponsor of mine but also a leader in disaster recovery and business continuity software. We’ll be in booth 510.

A little while ago I also hinted at a new team for the 2010 – 2011 season. Well, things are coming together really well and in a few weeks I’ll be posting a press release with full details. Let it be known that I’m pretty darn excited about the upcoming season and really am quite overwhelmed with the support from my sponsors. Feeling pretty fortunate and lucky.

(P.S. let me know if you’re up for a snowy mountain bike ride this weekend. I’m looking for new places to ride so any suggestions are appreciated.)