Ah, just finished a big block of training. These past four weeks have been pretty heavy on the training grid. A week of heavy training, followed by the training camp at Koksijde, and then two more weeks of heavy load. I finished off this big block with a solid three hour ride today.

Nothing quite like the three hour ride. After a while, two hours gets to be routine and not quite long enough. Four hours is the maximum I would ever ride. So three hours settles right in the middle. Long enough to feel like I’ve got in a good session on the bike but not so long that I’m cracked afterwards. The extra bonus today was the weather. The sun was shining. I didn’t get rained on. There was a slight wind. I was able to wear leg warmers and lightweight gloves. Can’t beat this for Dec. 10. I decided to rock out with the red leg warmers today. I looked quite the colorful image today with yellow shoes, red leg warmers, and my red, white, and black Ottawa Cross kit.

Hey it is all part of it. To be fast you have to look fast. And believe me, those red leg warmers make me feel fast. They are starting to grow on me. I think they might even catch on in Ottawa… Let me know if you want me to pick you up a pair!

Okay, sorry for the silliness. Back to reality. So I’ve got an easy little recovery ride tomorrow. Might throw the jets on and do a bit of off- and on-road riding. There are so many parks and trails nearby that I need to check out. Yep, think that’s what I’ll do. Racing the double this weekend. Both days in Holland. Looking forward to it. I get to race in a women’s race and the extra bonus is Marc will be able to race as well with the Masters. Should be a good couple days of racing.

Then Monday-Wednesday are all about rest. Serious rest. Meaning that I won’t even be getting on my bike. This is a new thing for me. But my coach says this has to be done to reap the benefits of this big block of training we’ve done. Next week is also the start of some big racing for me. I’ve got Scheldecross, the Kalmthout World Cup, AzenCross, and the Zolder World Cup. So some big races. The only new race to me is Kalmthout, so I’ll be sure to watch the video of this one.

Tomorrow is the big day. I haven’t heard anything yet. Honestly, I’m trying not to think about it. At this point, it is out of my control. I’ve done all I’ve can – I’ve qualified. Now I just need to wait and see if I get to race in Tabor on Jan. 31.

Keep your fingers crossed and send me some red and white vibes.

Today was a double day in more ways than one for me… The training was double. The drinking was double.

Since it is Wednesday, coach Steve always gives me a big day of riding. Today featured a two hour session in the morning with four 10 minute threshold intervals with eight minutes of recovery per interval. Yes, this got the juices flowing and gave me some pretty serious race sensations in my legs. Oh did I mention that each interval started with a standing ‘cross start? That’s right – so spring for 30 – 60 seconds and then pound out the threshold block. I love these types of work-outs. I love seeing the number on the power meter and feeling the ache in my legs and the fire in my lungs. Reminds me that I’m alive and keeps me wanting more.

Since I’m in Belgium, it only makes sense that the bulk of this ride was done in the rain. Ah well, I had my trusty Sealskin gloves on and my toasty bib tights. Besides I’m Canadian, a little bit of rain isn’t going to slow me down. The only bummer about the rain is this means my bike gets extremely dirty. Quick wash and wipe down and my trusty Stevens Super-Prestige is good as new.

For the double part of this training day, I went out to Kasterlee to ride the cyclo-cross course. This is an amazing course. It has everything – two sand run-ups, some descents that really test your will to not brake, fast sweeping corners, mud, climbs. It has it all. The best thing about Wednesdays at Kasterlee is there are other ‘cross racers out training. Today I followed around some juniors and a couple other women. Then hooked up with my training pals from last week for a few laps. And then I got to ride with Bert Vervecken. If you follow the Masters ‘cross racing scene in Belgium, you know Bert. He wins a lot of the races. Any type of race, Bert is at the front or on the front. So he rode with me for a couple of laps – just following me to see how I was riding. He then gave me some great advice on how I can improve. Number one “don’t grip the bars so tightly”. I guess when I grip the bars tightly, this makes my upper body stiff, which then causes the bike to do crazy things underneath me, causing me to get a bit nervous, then I stop pedaling, etc. So this is something I can fix. He also said to not brake in the corners. Now I know this. But it is so hard not to do, especially when the corners are darn fast – but I’m working on this. I got some great feedback from Bert. He also said “it is not easy to change what you’ve been doing”. Interesting comment. He also told me I need to do some mountain biking this summer. This is the second person to tell me this – I’m starting to take the hint! I rode around with Bert and some of the other “regulars” on the Masters circuit – okay more like followed/chased/tried to keep up – for a few more laps. Ended up riding at Kasterlee for a solid two hours!

So a great day of training. Great road ride in the morning to work on fitness, mental strength, and perseverance. Awesome afternoon session in the woods to focus on skills, mental strength, nerve, and confidence. To top it off, I got to hang out with some cool people. Really can’t beat that for a training day!

Now for the second double part of the day… So in my race reports I’ve been writing about my issues with the starts. How I lack the killer instinct and just can’t seem to get amped up for the start. I did receive a few emails and comments about the starts (thank-you). And everyone suggested the same thing – caffeine. As you may know I’m strictly a decaf cappuccino drinker. I don’t ingest caffeine. So after talking with my coach, we decide to test out the caffeine today. We had concerns about how I would react and primarily how, if at all the caffeine could impact my ulcerative colitis.

Question is where to get the caffeine? I don’t even know how to make coffee. Well, I’m in Belgium, so the obvious a cafe. Six minutes into my morning ride I roll over to a really nice cafe. Cool. There were a few people inside all relaxing with some coffee and the newspaper. This is a nice cafe and it is on a cycling route so very used to cyclists. I walked up to the bar and ordered a double espresso. Yes, a double. I told the waitress I didn’t want to sit down – I’d just drink it and go. This seemed to stimulate a lot of conversation – I felt like I had all eyes on me while I drank down my double espresso. Boy was it ever tasty! I’m starting to like this coffee thing. First time having espresso. Good news is, I didn’t experience any ill effects during my ride. The big question – did it help – did I feel more “jump”? Hard to know. I had a great ride. Felt awesome. Legs were on fire. Is this just me or did the coffee help? Regardless, I felt good during the ride, didn’t feel sick, etc. Time will tell how the caffeine affected me – I suppose if I’m still awake at 3 a.m., we’ll know. Curious to read your thoughts on caffeine – do you use it – do you notice a difference?

So there you have it – this was my day. Two good rides. Rode both bikes. Did two loads of laundry. Now ready to flake out on the couch and get caught up on The Amazing Race. Pretty darn good Wednesday. Tomorrow I’ve got a 3 hour endurance ride on deck. I think I’ll then end up at Cafe Libro for my decaf cappuccino and some quality time with Sony eBook Reader.

On Sunday, I received a great email from Luc Van Der Meiren… Luc took a bunch of photos of me racing at Averbode and sent them along to me. Very cool! Thanks Luc!

(I don’t normally ride with my eyes closed… Think the blinking was from the flashes on the cameras. It was rather dark in the woods.)

Thanks again Luc! See you at Kalmthout World Cup.

Sorry for not posting yesterday. By the time we got home from the race, shopping adventure, and got rid of the layers of mud, I was pretty much wiped out.

I’ve written race reports for the Saturday and Sunday races. All in all, a couple of fun and challenging days of racing. Two totally different types of courses with totally opposite conditions. Just what I want out of a double-header weekend.

Raced with the junior boys again this weekend. Did think of going to Holland to race, but the temptation to race mere minutes from the house was too great. Glad I decided to stay here since the race course in Averbode was a blast and it served me well to race on a tricky technical course today.

Saturday was all about surviving the woods which was essentially a BMX track with hub deep mud. Insane. The key to success was rhythm. Well, if you’ve seen me dance, you know I don’t have much rhythm and I had even less yesterday… I spent most of my time picking myself up off the ground from crashing. I think this is the first race where I crashed pretty much twice every lap! I’ve got some serious bruises and contusions to show for it – but this just is part of the battle! The race on Saturday did an excellent job of putting me well outside of my comfort zone. Good. This is why I’m here. I didn’t have a great result, but I did gain from it. Marc had about the same kind of day as I did…

After the race we decided to go to Antwerp to hit up the Decathlon and Saturn. Whoops – we forgot it was the day before Saint Niklaas day… The stores were packed with parents buying last minute gifts. Sigh. Oh well, we both got what we wanted at Decathlon – I got a really smooth new fleece jacket and Marc got a fleece jacket and some track pants. We ended up getting home quite late and spent a solid two hours cleaning bikes, doing laundry, etc.

Today it was super nice to race close to home. Got there early so that Marc could get in a good warm-up. This is fine with me because it just gives me more time to get comfortable. Super warm today – I raced in short sleeve skinsuit! Pretty cool to do this on December 6! This race was a ton of fun. Lots of twists and turns in the Averbode woods with only one race line to follow. Made it super fast and really tested your abilities at taking corners in this loose loamy soil. Marc had a good race and got faster as the race went on. It was fun to watch him race and cheer him on. My race was pretty much the same. I had a slow start but each lap got smarter, faster and more confident (can’t ask for much more).

Many thanks to Jos and Marc for all of their help today. Also thanks to my cheering section. I stopped off in a tent by a bar before the race to pull on the top of my skinsuit and got talking with the people there. So then every time I came by they would really cheer me on – very cool. There were also quite a few people scattered around the course cheering me on. This is so nice. There were actually quite a lot of people out today to watch the race. Suppose a nice day combined with a downtown location brings out the spectators. Good thing about the dryish weather meant there was much less work to be done cleaning bikes.

We’ve got everything sorted and cleaned, had some tasty red curry chicken for supper and now it is movie time. Another good weekend in Belgium is in the books. This was an extra special weekend as it was Marc’s first time racing here this season. Doesn’t get much better.

Ah, nothing like the Friday ride. Especially when it comes the day before a double-header weekend. For me today this meant a recovery ride. I had a couple of pretty heavy days this week so it was all about recharging. Perfect. Decided to throw the Michelin Jets on and pump them up a bit. Hopped on the road and pedaled off to Averbode to play in the woods.

Rolled around on some trails at the Averbode Abby and then hit up a new-to-me bicycle path. Wow, what a bicycle path. Wide. Smooth. And best of all, it took me to another great training park. This park has dedicated trails for running, cycling, and horseback riding. Perfect. I had a blast rolling around in the woods sheltered from the rain and wind. Found some super fun singletrack and some awesome fire road type trails. Got turned around for a bit and did a bit of head scratching trying to find my way out. But this is all part of the adventure. Then I hopped back on the wonderful bicycle path and followed it for a bit – it seems to go on forever. Nice. Nothing like finding a new path to ride.

I plan on returning on Monday to check it out further. I’m always looking for good paths to ride when I have long intervals to do. I can’t believe how many parks and nature preserves there are around here. Pretty impressive to have so much green space for such a small country. The best part is seeing that these green spaces are actually used by people – it doesn’t seem to matter the time of day or weather – there are always others out walking, jogging, cycling, or horseback riding.

I had wanted to ride in the Blauberg Forest today, but this sign deterred me:

Well, that’s about it for today. It is getting a bit late so I best be off to bed. Early start tomorrow. Marc is racing at 11 (I think) and I’m racing at 2 (I think). But the good news is the bikes are all ready to go, my race bag is packed, food is sorted for tomorrow, and it is a very short drive to the race. Best of all, Marc and I get to watch either race – it has been a long time since we’ve been able to do this.

(Sending some speedy vibes down to Rhode Island for our pals Steve and Josee. Pedal hard. Have fun. Enjoy Rhode Island – my all-time favorite state.)