There was a point on Wednesday when I was ready to give up on this trip. But now I’m super happy we are here. Had a very quiet and uneventful flight. By the time we left, many people had decided not to make the trip on flight 838 to Frankfurt. So this meant a quite plane and Marc and I both got rows to ourselves. So we arrived rested and ready to go.

Our bikes did not make the flight from Frankfurt to Brussels. In the end, this was probably for the best. Forced us to rest and get our bearings. Marc arranged for a van rental through Frankie (J Page’s mechanic) so we met him in Brussels and picked up our super race van. This thing is set for ‘cross racing – seats eight, has roof racks, and is all set up for ‘cross racing. In fact even Frankie said it was best not to ride today. So no bikes – meant no riding.

Did lots of stuff this afternoon. Unpacking. Grocery shopping. Bakery visits. General catching up. I’d say settled is the word.

Marc and Ed C. were pretty busy this afternoon though. Unfortunately, Ed was hit by a car today. He is physically fine – sore shoulder and banged up leg. His bike is totaled. Ruined. Luckily there was a witness (Bjorn Leukemans) and the driver is very forthcoming with replacing Ed’s bike. Marc and Ed went to a shop nearby today to get a price on a replacement frame, wheels, and groupo. Bad news, this bike isn’t available in Belgium until the middle of January. So once again, Vince from The Cyclery is helping out and using his contacts to get Ed a new bike. The Stevens Carbon is the hottest ‘cross bike in Belgium. So keep your fingers crossed that everything works out for Ed and his bike.

Here are some pictures of Ed’s bike (thanks to Jos for the pics).

The front wheel

Ed's bike

Ed's broken bike

So this has added some excitement to the start of the Belgium trip. Never a dull day. We are chilled out now. Had an easy group supper and some excellent conversation. Marc is out building bikes (they arrived last this afternoon) and I’ve got some more unpacking to do.

Riding tomorrow. Racing on the weekend. Fast times here in Belgium. The trip started off rather slowly but no we’re here and are pretty darn happy about it. We’ll be racing hard this weekend – your support and encouragement will get us through the thick mud and knee deep sand. Good luck this weekend in Kansas City.

One last picture – how happy does Marc look:

Nutella Man

Just a quick post to let you know we are here safe and sound. Been here for quite awhile but there has been some excitement…

I’ll post more details later. Lots happening here in Westmeerbeek right now.

Good news is we are here, showered, have eaten and the bikes just arrived. Phew.

More later.

Racing this weekend.

If you guessed the Air Canada Lounge at the Ottawa Airport – you’re correct!!!

This is so crazy it is close to being laughable.

We boarded at 10:30 and then got off at 1:30 – we were deiced and then a mechanical issue was discovered.

We are supposed to leave at 6:15….

Maybe I’ll get to ride on Thursday. More later – hopefully from Belgium and not Ottawa.

Yep – still here in Ottawa… In the airport. Flight was canceled at 3 a.m. this morning…. It took 1.5 hours to get the luggage off the plane.

Then we had to wait until 6 a.m. to check in. Now we don’t have flights booked from Frankfurt to Brussels… We’ll have to stay overnight in Frankfurt – at our own expense. We are not too jazzed right now.

At least this proves why you should always leave lots of time for travel. So now we essentially have lost two days of our trip.

So tired. Can’t really think right now. More later – I guess from Frankfurt. I need to ride my bicycle!!!

(Sorry to those of you who read both of my sites – this is the same content that I posted on Victoria’s Island. Just so tired and have a wicked headache can’t really come up with anything original.)

I can say that I miss real food. At least in the Air Canada lounge there is some yogurt and museli. Can’t wait to get to Belgium. I’ve never wanted to ride my bike so badly. I don’t care what the weather is like, I need to ride. This will be my third day without riding now. Too busy on Monday – getting ready for Tuesday’s flight. Couldn’t ride Tuesday because the bike was in a bike box. Can’t ride Wednesday because the bikes are somewhere in the airport. Hopefully Thursday – assuming we get a connecting flight and the bikes arrive… Sigh.

Don’t travel close to your race. Luckily we just have a couple of local races this weekend. But this was not part of the plan. Okay – having trouble typing – must get some sleep.

At least I’ve got my Skins on – they’re keeping me fresh…

Well, we’re getting closer. We are now at the Air Canada lounge in Ottawa.

We managed to cram all our stuff into four bike boxes and two pieces of luggage. We didn’t want to add the second piece of luggage but really didn’t have much choice. Luckily we got a very friendly lady at the check-in counter – she cut us a deal on the extra baggage. Nice.

Huge thanks to Robbie O for the bike box. Massive thanks to Vince for the bike box. You guys saved us again – thanks – expect some Belgian chocolate in your future. Huge thanks to our neighours for looking in on Murphy and for taking care of our driveway. More chocolate is on order.

Dudes – Belgium. Cool or what? We’ll be racing this weekend. Going on the big group ride on Thursday. Just like home (our home away from home). We miss Murphy already but we know he is in good hands.

Okay – I best go. A few things to check out. Look for me tomorrow from Belgium.

Best of of luck at Nationals in Kansas City – we’ll be watching. Pedal hard. Remember to accelerate out of the corners and keep the elbows pointy.