Hard to believe this is my first double weekend since Canadian Nationals/Jim Horner over Thanksgiving weekend! Strange really. Especially as ‘cross racer, double weekends are what it is all about. Suffice it to say, I’m looking forward to this double race weekend.

No big races on the calendar. Just a couple of “local” races with the junior boys. When there aren’t any women’s races on the schedule, women can race with the junior boys. This means starting at the back of the field and riding like a crazed person to hold off the super-fast junior boys. Should be a good time. I had originally planned on racing Laarne but have since discovered a close race in Hasselt. Turns out there are two UCI races in Hasselt as well. See how the day goes, might even stay for a little bit of race watching. Haven’t done this yet this year.

As for Sunday. Well, I had planned to race in Holland, but this involved four hours of driving. Normally not an issue but I’ve got a long drive on Monday and a big week ahead so decided that spending a lot of the day in the car on Sunday isn’t the best preparation for the upcoming week. So, I’ll race in Tessenderlo. Again with the junior boys. Tessenderlo is super close. This is the course I trained on in the middle of the week. Should be a good hard fast race.

I’ll be flying solo at these races. No pit person. No traveling company. First time this season. No biggie. I’m sure to see people I know at the races. And if not, I’m sure to meet people at the races. This always seems to happen. Kind of cool. Guess it is part of being a bit of a novelty still. People here aren’t used to having Canadians at the races so early in the season. Too bad about this. Hopefully each year, more Canadians will come over earlier. Once you get here and get a couple races under your belt, you learn really quickly that people love to help out and that you can do this thing solo.

Looking forward to next week. Should be heaps of learning. Lots of pedaling. Some new friends. And not to mention the sand. Glad to have such a busy week next week because this will make the time to Marc’s arrival go by even more quickly. Can’t hardly wait.

Well, that’s really it for today. Did go out for a ride. Had a great roll around for a little over 90 minutes. No SRM today. Just went by feel. Also needed to test out my pedals on my other bike. I switched out on of the pedals and needed to make sure it is okay. Still stretching out my last pair of Look egg beaters. Bought some new gear at the bike store today: two new Dura Ace chains, two sets of brake pads, and some leg warmers… Feeling is that the sand will destroy my chains and brake pads so best have them on hand so I can replace them before the World Cup. (Don’t worry Steve – I won’t be doing this – I’ll find someone to do this work for me!) And the leg warmers? Well, you know me – I’m not a flashy person. I like to be understated with maybe a slight flash of color here and there… This means sticking to black leg warmers. Well, I’ve been forced to branch out. No black leg warmers in my size… What is a girl to do? I cracked and bought some red leg warmers. I know. I know. But I needed a second pair. Hopefully I have the nerve to wear them. They are really nice Vermarc leg warmers. Red ones. You know the saying “might as well be fast and look good!”.

Really feeling like a biker. My legs know what to do. My head stays clear. No crazy brain happening. Focused on the ride and the goals from the ride. Taking it all in. Listening to my breath. Feeling my legs. That sweet dull ache. The explosion in the pedals when I push hard.

The wheels roll along. Reminding me of how much living there is to be done. The bike this week is taking me places I’ve never been before. I’m just really feeling it. Things are coming together. I’ve had a good few weeks here. Some ups and downs. I’ve got a big week coming up. A couple of big races on the schedule. But I’m ready for it. The sensations are spot on.

I’m recovering well between rides. I want to do more. But I hold back – need to stick to the plan. The ‘cross skills are coming. Slowly but surely. Progress is happening. Snap is coming to my legs. I’m learning how to use my body more effectively. There is no room for negativity in my head space. There is no shoulda, coulda, or woulda. I’ve only got: gonna, can, and did it. The way it should be.

Funny how it takes so long to get to this point. More to the point, I’m fully confident that there is definitely more to come. More of this. More of that. This is what makes the crazy game of bikin’ so much fun. So important to my daily breathe. I do a lot of learning and growing on my bike. Super lucky to have this. My only hope is that you have this as well.

Today was a training day that I’ve been looking forward to all week. It was the much anticipated double day. Double as in two rides in one day. Cool. Felt like a real bike racer today. Getting out on the bike for two training rides.

Kicked off the day with an action-packed two hour ride. After a cozy 20 minute endurance warm-up, followed by 2 x 5 minute x 5 minute recovery tempo intervals, then the fun stuff – 4 x 45 second standing starts in my hardest gear, then to wrap things up 6 x 5 minute x 1 minute recovery tempo intervals. Like I said – action packed. A very satisfying ride on so many levels. The tempo intervals are just hard enough to get the blood flowing and a dull ache in the legs. The start intervals – well they are damn hard but uber-satisfying. Then to round out the ride with another batch of tempo riding makes me feel super strong. An excellent ride for the body and the brain.

Got home and chilled out for a couple of hours. Little walk to the bakery for a fresh loaf of bread. Tried a new one today – Toscans – it is super tasty. Nice little lunch and chat with Marc. The time difference can be a bit of a hassle for communication but it is nice to break up the afternoon with a chat with my favorite guy.

Then time for the second ride of the day. This one was all about ‘cross riding. I ended up going to Tessenderlo because the course for this Sunday’s race is set up already. Decided it was the perfect opportunity to work on different ‘cross riding skills. The plan for this ride was to section the course and then repeatedly drill the trick/challenging/key sections until I was better and faster with them. This course has a bunch of sand in it – climbs, descents, and a flat section. So these were the parts that I broke down and worked on. It is super awesome for the confidence to see the improvement after working on the sections repeatedly. Doing this kind of training alone is not ideal, but I made the best of it. Gave me a chance to try different lines, approaches, exits, gears, etc. Had fun playing and learning on the ‘cross bike for a solid 90 minutes.

Now I’m home just chilling out. Hung out with Jos and we caught up on each other’s days and dramas. Great talk with Marc and now I’m just winding down. Tomorrow is a lighter day with just a 2.5 hour road ride. I’ve got a few errands to do though to get ready for Koksijde – need to pick up a couple of new chains and do a bit of work on my bikes. So it will be a jam-packed day. Just the way I like it.

Looking forward to racing this weekend. I hope I can hold off the super-fast junior boys…

I’ve had a good couple of days of training and some excellent talks with people about my racing so far. I’ve gotten a lot of good advice on what to do and not do. Most importantly, I’ve been reminded of the progress I’ve made. It is sometimes easy in the shuffle of race results to remember what things were like a year ago. Luckily for me I’ve made a lot of gains in a year. Fitness gains. Technical gains. And I think really most significantly, mental gains.

Yes, that almighty mental game is super key. Especially for me right now. It would be easy to drag myself down into a pit of despair and self-pity. That happened last year. (Twice) But it is not happening this year. Last year tough races and results, served to only make me fear my bike and each upcoming race. Not this year. Not even close. On the contrary, my race experiences this year have made me embrace my bike and racing even more. I want to be out on my bike right now – riding in the mud, tackling the sand, descending something crazy.

I’m not sure how this shift happened. I can’t question it. I can only be thankful for it and stay positive. There is no room for the negative in my season. I realized that some might have my read my posts on Sunday and interpreted them as my feeling a bit down. Nope. Fired up was and is how I’m feeling. I just want to get out there and get better.

These last two days have been so good for this. I had a super awesome ride on Monday. Got out for close to three hours with some really challenging start intervals thrown into the mix. Let me tell you – 45 seconds when you’re standing sprinting out of the saddle in your hardest gear, is a really really long time. I loved them. And good news is, I get to do them again tomorrow. The interesting thing about these intervals is that they really taught me that I’m not going hard enough in the start. I guess I really wasn’t sure how the start should feel. Apparently it is supposed to feel like these intervals. Perfect. Now I know. Today I got out for a ninety minute recovery ride. Initially, I thought 90 minutes didn’t seem like much. But let me tell you – my body needed a short easy recovery ride. Didn’t realize I was tired until I started pedaling!

I had a great talk with a new ally here in Belgium who is proving to be super helpful in my quest to get some technical training. Also got the name of another rider who might be able to help out. Cool. All I can do is ask.

Did a little bit of bike work as well. Well, bike work might be a stretch… I’ve been riding and racing with some old Look egg beater pedals. These pedals are three years old… One pair finally quit after Sunday’s mud bath. So now I’ve got a new pair of Crank Brothers egg beaters on one bike. I was kind of impressed that I identified that the pedals were done and was then able to change them. I know – this is not major but it could lead to crazy instances of bike mechanics – before you know it I’ll be changing brake pads, replacing my bar tape, and taking off the stays…

On deck Wednesday is a super day of training. It is a double day. Yes! It is going to be a good one. Long ride in the morning with the infamous start intervals. Home for a bit of a rest. Then out to the nature preserve in Averbode for some ‘cross riding. I’m going to set up my own little course and then section it – working on the various parts – steadily getting faster and more confident. Cool.

I’ve got two races on the schedule this weekend. It will be my first trip to Holland of the season on Sunday. Off to Den Hagg for a race. Den Hagg is just outside Rotterdam. My only memory of Rotterdam is from the summer of 2007 – my first criterium racing experience in Holland – the GPS stopped working and then I discovered a massive traffic circle in Rotterdam with what felt like 15 exits! Anyway, I’m looking forward to racing this weekend. More opportunities to practice and improve.

Now for your viewing pleasure, I’ve got some photos from Balint Hamvas of http://cyclephotos.co.uk. Balint took these pictures at the Nommay World Cup. Thanks Balint!

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would do anything to have it? This is where I’m at now. I just so desperately want to improve. I want to. I have to. I just feel like I’m on the cusp of that next level and I want to get better now.

If I could be out riding my bike eight hours a day, I would. If I knew that would make me better. If I could find that “magic” drill or training park that would just help push me along to the next level – to where I want be. If only…

This is how I’m feeling today. Perhaps it seems a bit desperate. But I’m so darn hungry for improvement. I’ve got damn strong legs. I’ve got a powerful set of lungs and heart. I just need my technical skills to catch up. I could get by okay at home in Canada and the U.S. with my legs, lungs and heart. But not here. Here watts don’t matter if you don’t have the skills. This is cold hard reality of the situation.

Don’t take this to read that I’m down on myself. On the contrary – I’m just so darn frustrated. I want to be better. I want to be able to descend the muddy slick descents with confidence. I want to always be pedaling – instead of thinking and stopping pedaling. I want to be more smooth and efficient in the mud. I want to be able to choose better race lines. I want to be able to get up the steep inclines. I want to float through the sand. I want it all.

Problem is, these things take time and patience. And they take outside help. To put it bluntly – I need someone to go riding with here in Belgium who can put me through my paces and teach me how to descend better, ride the mud better, ride sand better, choose better race lines and basically sharpen and improve all of my technical skills. If you are that person – email me! I want to learn so badly. I’ve got the lungs and legs – I just need the technical know how.

So you can probably guess I am less than satisfied with my race today. You are correct. This was the first “real” Belgian ‘cross course I’ve raced on this year. Muddy. Slippery. Twisty. Crazy descents. Technical climbs. A really good hard challenging course. It also did an excellent job of highlighting my technical problems. After the race, I received the following comment “Your fitness is very strong. Your technical skills need to improve. I see you hesitating on the descents and then stopping pedaling”. This is perfectly spot on. I’ve written a full race report over here – you can read more about the course and the race there.

But this being said, I did have a very good day. Great drive to the race with Jos. Super support from Jos all day – she was awesome in the pits, had fresh bikes for me when I pitted, cleaned both bikes after the race, power washed my legs and shoes, wiped down the bikes and reminded me to get changed. Couldn’t have done the race without Jos. As a treat we stopped at a bakery on the way home. Jos got a tasty frangipan tart and I got an underwhelming raisin croissant – so underwhelming I only took two bites! Quick and smooth drive home. Hung out with Tim and Jos for a bit and we watched the highlights from the women’s race. Then I was back home and spent two hours working on the bikes! Crazy but I just wanted to make sure everything was as clean as it could be.

Chilled out evening. Had a good long chat with Skip of KingsBridge today. Go check out the KingsBridge web site and learn more about one of the key sponsors of Ottawa Cross.

Just talked to Marc. He had another tough slog in the New Jersey mud. Sounds like it was an epic weekend down at the Mercer Cup. Gotta tell you – I don’t miss that race! It was great to talk to Marc about his race and then for him to give me some sound advice about my racing and training. Really without Marc, none of this would be possible. I would have cracked long ago. He is super supportive of my cyclo-cross racing and really puts himself second so that I can do what I want. This just makes me want to get better so much more. I want to be able to call him and tell him about my breakthrough race and excellent result…