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.

Friday was epic. One of those days it will take a while for me to forget.

Made the trip to Sint-Niklaas to cheer on Marc and Ed and to work the pits for them. Pretty good racing. Though the organizers decided to have all three Masters categories on the course at once – this made for frequent traffic jams and hold-ups for the racers. The pit was jammed packed. So packed I could barely see Marc and Ed when they came by. Luckily I saw Marc at the right time and saw him raise his arm to signal that he needed to pit. I recruited a guy to catch his bike and the bike exchange was flawless. Marc had a tough day on the bike – he crashed a few times – but he still came in for an admirable 16th place finish. Ed was strong and finished 6th – battling his way through the back of the Masters B and A packs. So far so good.

I had decided to ride from Sint-Niklaas to Westmeerbeek. This way I could watch the guys race and still get in a good day of training. Worked out a route with Tim and Jos. Looked like it would be close to 60 km. Pretty good. I set off at around 1:30. The trouble started about 20 minutes in.

Stomach cramps. Really bad ones. But I blocked them out and focused on the ride and making sure I didn’t get lost. I was essentially supposed to follow the N16 (a major road) bike path and then in Mechelen pickup the N15 (another major road) bike path. There were a few twists and turns due to road works but I made it to Mechelen in good time. I got a bit lost so I called Jos and then set out. Well, I messed up and ended up in Zemst. Zemst is in the completely wrong direction. Not only was I now lost, I also had a flat tire. Oh – and my stomach was getting worse.

So I did what any modern bike racer does – pulled out the cell phone and called Marc. He and Ed were still in Sint-Niklaas and would be in Zemst in 30 minutes or so. Thanks to the power of the GPS they found me huddled in a bus shelter frozen to the bone and hunched over. What a relief to see that white van pull up. I got in the van and off we went. Well, sort of.

My stomach finally rebelled big time. Suffice it to say – I was very ill on the side of the road. Poor Marc and Ed – I felt terrible about dragging them away from the race and then to be sick in front of them. Made it home finally and I went straight to bed. Marc was awesome – brought me hot water bottles, checked in on me, got me a Fanta and some bubbly water. Verdict – food poisoning. Not sure from what.

So that was my epic day. According to Tim: “An epic is needed once in a while. Only thing that toughens you up.”

Well, this isn’t the post I was planning to write. Certainly didn’t think at 8:00 a.m. this morning when I set off for Petange with a fully-loaded car that I’d be returning to write this: I did not race today. Don’t worry – I’m fine. I made it to Petange without incident. Found the permanance (registration), found the race start and course. Even got a good parking spot right next to the other Canadians.

Chatted with D-Rock about the course – he gave me some ample warning on the conditions… Got kitted up and set out. Well, lets just say this course was well outside my skillset. Wet slippery leaves covered frozen rutted mud. Many high speed twisty descents on said wet leaves and rutted mud. It seemed like every other tree was covered in padding to protect the innocent racers. I did one lap.

That’s it. I tried to convince myself that I could race the course. But I could barely ride it. It was beyond me. So I packed it in. Packed up my bikes and gear. Got changed. Called Marc – cried a little bit. Said good luck to D-Rock and Natasha and hit the road back to Westmeerbeek. The real drag about the whole ordeal was that I really wasted my entire day. I spent 5 hours driving. All I got in one was an hour on the trainer.

How am I feelng? Okay I guess. No excuses can be made or said. No reason for not racing can be produced. Honestly – the course was beyond my skillset. Next year I’ll be back and I’ll race on that course. But this year I can’t do it.