Friday ended up being pretty darn good and Saturday was equally solid. Didn’t ride on Friday. Took the day off from the bike. Did some yoga – 30 minutes of core work followed up by 30 minutes of power yoga. Not bad for a rest day. Had a pretty chilled morning and afternoon. Marc and I hit the road looking for a little adventure.

We weren’t sure what or where. We just knew we wanted some excitement. Not in the mood for cities or shopping, we chose Baarle-Nassau or is that Baarle-Hertog. This place is difficult to describe. It is a community of both Belgians and Dutch. Parts of the town are in Belgium and other parts are in Holland. We were pretty curious to check out the community. We got there in the dark so we couldn’t see much but we wandered around a bit, had a tasty meal of pancakes and made our way home. Fascinating conversation with the waitress at the restaurant. A smooth way to cap off a pretty good Friday.

Marc and the Map

Curious Marc

Another frosty day here in Belgium. But I wasn’t interested in the trainer. Two pairs of shoe covers. Two hats. Two pairs of gloves. Three shirts. One jacket. One pair of bib shorts. One pair of bib tights. One pair of wind-breaker type pants. One helmet. One iPod. One fleece neck tube.

Two hour ride. A great ride. Discovered some new roads. Checked out some cool little towns. Enjoyed the fresh air. Listened to my latest audio book. Pedaled along with a big goofy grin on my face. Saw one dude in shorts – he was running. Those crazy runners – can’t trust them!

I could have gone longer. The cold was not really getting to me. But my chest was a bit cold. So two hours was good. Much better than the garage. Gobbled down some lunch and then hit up the shops with Tim and Jos. Fabulous second hand bookstore, Prik and Tik (bulk discount drinks place) and the health food store. Busy but productive. Picked up a couple of new to me books and two old copies of National Geographic. The bookstore had National Geographics dating back to 1974!

Second Hand Books

Mmm, books

Pricey Drinks

Just chilling out now watching 21. Tomorrow is looking promising as well. Going to check out the famous market in Heist-Op-Den-Berg, chased by a ride at Kasterlee and then flake out on the couch to watch the Belgian ‘Cross Champs. I’m cheering for Vervecken. Go Erwin!

Yep, still here in frosty Belgium. Sorry for not posting on Thursday. Just didn’t really have much to say. (Not sure if I have much more to say today – but you know me – I can talk/write.)

After two days of trainer riding in the garage I cracked and went outside. I’m cool with trainer rides – in fact I do super epic ones at home during the “off-season”. But there is something different between riding in my basement with a fan, heat, a bigish television, and wearing only shorts and a bra and my Belgian trainer reality: trainer in the freezing cold garage, laptop propped up on the washing machine, wearing legwarmers, thermal shirts, gloves, and shoe covers.

See not really the samething. In fact a totally different trainer experience. So that’s why I decided to ride outside on the wet gritty roads. I bundled up but not enough. My legs actually got cold. And my feet well, my toes were in agony. The roads were so wet that my shoe covers were basically useless. My toes looked like red strawberries! Oh well, makes you stronger right?

No racing this weekend with the national champs happening everywhere. We are thinking of checking out a cool looking cafe in Ramsel on Sunday to watch the race at. I say cool looking because the cafe has a massively large flat screen television and leather couches. Anyway, we’ll see.

This has been an odd week. Nice to have a break from the racing. But with the weather being less than ideal for long training rides, the week hasn’t lived up to expectations. In fact the group ride didn’t even happen. I was really looking forward to this. But I suppose in the long run it is still better than the alternatives.

Not sure what today holds. Darn cold again. Yoga probably. Knitting. We may go out and do some exploring. Marc is out on an important errand right now. Buying a headlight bulb for the super van. Got pulled over by the police yesterday for said burned out bulb. Luckily we met a very friendly police officer. He was interested in the cyclo-cross and then let us go without a fine or ticket. Nice!

It’s funny really. For most cyclists in Canada they are in the first phase of getting ready for the road season. Dreading the trainer and convincing themselves to do the work-out. Some riders substitute cross-country skiing with trainer time. Others do nothing and hope for the best. And me? Well, I have only two races left. I’ll most likely keep riding until we leave – assuming the weather warms up. If it stays cold, I’ll talk to Coach Steve about my break… Then when I get home, it will be back on the trainer and time to build for 2009. I don’t have many goals mapped out for the 2009 road season yet. I do know that I’m going to change up a few things and add in some mountain bike time. (I meant to do this last year but didn’t…. Well, now I really can see that I need to.)

I like to race. But I also understand that racing doesn’t necessarily make you stronger. Guess I’ll have to sit down and determine what I want out of my road season and see how this meshes with my cyclo-cross goals. Almost time to start thinking big picture again. Strangely, I think this will be a tough season of training. Harder than last season. Why? Well, because last year I had no choice but to make huge gains (which I did). This year my fitness is pretty good, it still needs to improve but I think my real improvements on the road and ‘cross bikes will come from the “hard to define aspects of bike racing”. Brains. Grit. Focus. Luck. Determination.

You know that guy. The guy who is just a smart, hard bike racer. Well, I need to become that guy. This is more than power to weight ratio. This is what makes bike racing so damn beautiful.

So things are quiet here without any racing. But that doesn’t mean life is slow. Just no yelling, pushing, sharp elbows, and autograph hounds. The weather here is still rather cold. So once again I rode the trainer. This time I watched a movie: 21. A good flic and the perfect length for the trainer – two hours.

Last night I was hit with the strange flu again. One minute I’m feeling good – had a busy day with work, a 90 minute ride, trip to the bike store, grocery store, bakery, and Chinese restaurant to get the menu. Then all of a sudden, I’m doubled over with stomach cramps. Ridiculous. I went to bed at 6:00 with horrible stomach cramps. I was so afraid of the attack I had on Friday. Not this time round – just six hours of terrible cramps and pains. Today I woke up totally fine. So very strange. I hope that’s the end of it.

Had a banner day today. Did the ride on the trainer. Then went to Leuven for an afternoon of shopping and walking. Had a great time. Picked up some nice gear – a couple of books and some clothes. Had a good sit down at Punto Cafe and enjoyed a chocochino. Excellent afternoon. To close off the day, Marc and I went out for dinner and finally celebrated his birthday. Marc posted a few pics on his Twitter page.

This time of year is a time of reflection, looking forward and making resolutions. I’ve written here before what I think of resolutions. I came across this article today (thanks Marc) and thought it was worth sharing. An excellent message – one that can really be applied to whatever it is you are doing/seeking.

Massive shout out to Nikki H. who is racing in the Great Britain National Cyclo-Cross Champs this weekend, Good luck Nikki – we’ll be cheering for you here in Belgium. When I came to Belgium in 2007 for May and June, I lived with Nikki and her boyfriend Matt in Blauberg. It is great to see them both excelling on and off their bikes. They’ve both had their share of adversity but still stick to their goals of being bike racers and getting the most out of life. In fact, Matt is currently featured on PezCycling News. Have a read. Pretty inspiring, considering Matt was hit by a truck last winter and had both his legs broken.

Well, there you have it. The action for a non-racing day/week. Who knows what tomorrow will hold? I’m hoping for a ride outside. The roads are nice and clear – it just depends on the temperature – though it is not like the garage is all that warm anyway! Not that I’m complaining – can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather spend my winter. (Well, in a few years Hawaii would be nice…)

Last winter we were blessed with perfect training and racing weather. This year, not so much. Snow. Not a lot of it – but enough to be a hassle – especially for us two-wheelers. I was itching to get out for a ride yesterday so Marc and I hit the road and made our way to Blauberg to visit the health food store. Actually had a pretty nice ride. Relaxing pace. Got some practice riding in the slippery stuff. The bike path to Blauberg was pretty much clear – it had been salted. Got out for a little over an hour. Just what I needed after my bout with the flu.

Super Van

Snowy Cars

Ready to Ride

Beautiful Bright Snow

Got in a good yoga session in the late afternoon. So glad I borrowed some DVDs from Heather at Mountaingoat Yoga Centre. It is not the same as being in the hot power class – but at least I can keep my body limber and I’ll be ready for yoga when I get back in February.

So no group ride today. Darn – I was really looking forward to it. Wanted to get out for a couple of hours and enjoy the momentum of the group. I think I’ll hop on the trainer. 90 minutes or so. Just need to find a movie to watch… Not much else happening – pretty quiet really. I won’t bore you with tales of knitting and reading. (If you really want the details – go read Victoria’s Island.) Off to Leuven tomorrow afternoon for some shopping and perhaps a chocochino. Nice.

My spirits are definitely better. Thanks to the positive vibes I have received from you guys. And of course Marc has been my rock – constantly reminding me of my goals, how hard I’ve worked and what I can do. Coach Steve Weller has been awesome – I sent him some desperate emails and he continues to reinforce the plan and keep me focused.

I’ve updated my Flickr stream with some pics from Zolder.

Okay, I’m out. Have a good one. I love it – it is about -10 in England right now and on the BBC News, they are advising people on how to stay warm! Imagine if they came to Saskatchewan where it was -50! I guess it really is all about perspective…

I’m looking at today as a fresh start. A fresh start to 2009. I’m finally over the stomach sickness that hit me on Friday. Most likely it was some kind of stomach virus. Massive thanks to D-Rock for his email advising me what to do – much appreciated. Sorry for not posting these past two days but really there wasn’t anything to say. I didn’t do anything. I slept a lot. I ate brown rice, apricote compote (can’t stomach apples) and toast. And I slept.

But today, today I’m finally feeling well. I had a solid sleep. My body is no longer making funny noises and my legs don’t ache from walking up the stairs. Of course, I could have done without one thing this fine Monday morning… Snow. Yes – you read it correctly – dudes there is snow on the ground out there. Not a lot of snow. In fact in Canadian terms, I don’t even know if we would consider it to be snow. Such a fine dusting of white powder. But this thin little layer is sure to cause some chaos on the streets. Don’t know what it will do to our riding plans either.

Marc and I had talked about going to Kasterlee today to ride at the ‘cross park. Don’t know if this will still happen. It could be trainer time in the garage. Yikes.

Marc had a good race yesterday. I didn’t go – I wish I had because he could have done with the pit support. Marc was in second place – in a solid second place. When he crashed lapping a guy. Bent his shifter lever causing his front brake to jam. He bent it back and kept on going. With no one in the pit, he decided not to pit. He finished 6th. Still an excellent result and by the sound of it – Marc was riding super well. Congrats Marc! Your hard work and determination is paying off.

Pretty quiet week here. Most countries (well all countries except Canada and the U.S.) are holding their national champs this weekend so the race calendar is pretty much empty. The timing is probably pretty good as most of us North Americans could do with a break – seems like everyone is battling a cold, flu, an injury, tired legs, bad karma.

Well, I’ll try to post more later. I’m looking at today – Jan. 5, 2009 as the start to my new year. All the bad stuff for the year is now behind me and things can only get better now.