We opened the blinds to a pleasant looking Sunday with the sun in sight and not too many troublesome clouds about. Matt & Brad cooked up some oats before we took off for our standard hour ride to roll our legs over before this afternoon's race in Hove. Like usual we tapped down the canal but had to battle a headwind on the way out before we turned and zipped back home. Glenn researched the directions to Hove while we all packed our race bags. We planned to leave between 1-1.30 to leave us enough time to pick up our numbers, check over our bikes, kit up and have a quick warm up. After tidying up the house a bit Matt cooked up some tuna pasta which we all sat down and ate once the car was packed and ready to go.
When we arrived in the town of Hove we realised how big today's race actually was! A motorcade of sponsors and promo cars drove a few laps of the circuit throwing lollies and balloons out to all the young children lining the streets. There were people everywhere and lots of cars trying to find parking spots. We battled through and finally found a place to park on the course. 'Inschrijven' was easier than usual because Tim nominated us over the phone earlier in the week but they still had to take the time to enter all our details into the computer (all the Belgian's licenses have a barcode which they just scan). The race had 90 starters aged 18 - 22, while the course was 11 laps of a 10.8 circuit (~118km). It was quite chilly by this time and the wind had started to pick up, occasionally sneaking a few rain drops in. We dressed and got our bikes prepped with all three of us going back to the car to pick up arm warmers. After a brief warm up we rolled to the line and were given some last instructions (in dutch) before the flag was dropped and we were off.
The course was fairly straightforward but their were many obstacles to avoid so you always had to have you wits about you. Like in the tour there were many marshals with whistles and fluro flags to warn us of sharp corners and/or traffic hazards. I'm fairly sure everyone kept upright and after a few laps you began to learn the course anyway. We weren't entirely sure what to expect with racing against only U23 after the previous two races were against fully grown men. The result was a few kmph slower but the race was fairly aggressive and also quite negative at times. In the early stages the 3 of us rode very good position in the front of the race to keep out of trouble and monitor any sneaky escapes in the beginning. A few times Brad and I were off the front in the breakaway but they were generally shut down quickly. A front bunch formed shortly after we were caught with about 20 riders in it. The peleton stalled and the riders quickly gained an advantage. The few attempts made by riders to reach the breakaway were fruitless including an optimistic attack by Brad which only just fell short when he was a mere 20m or so in arrears. We didn't see the break away again.
The bunch went through many different stages from chasing hard to stalling to then aggressive attacking. Riders continually tried to escape up a slight rise on the course but it never eventuated into anything more. I felt particularly good today whereas Brad was a bit tender and Matt took a conservative approach to the race and just concentrated on remaining within the bunch and getting the experience/kilometres in. It became extremely frustrating at times when the peleton would stop chasing and without time checks we never knew whether or not we were gaining on the riders off the front. In the final lap a few riders managed to sneak away including Brad which rode to the finish just ahead of the peleton. A left hand corner 250m from the finish line was difficult to negotiate but I took a fairly good line and had good position. A rider who was caught 150m or so from the finish was dawdling up the right hand side and I nearly ran straight up the back of him. I had to 'bork' which ruined my run at the line which concluded a very frustrating bike race!
We made our way back to the car and cleaned ourselves up/changed before going over to rego to return our numbers and find out our placings. Brad managed top 30 with the last lap break away whereas my interupted sprint left me with top 40 and Matt in with the rest of the peleton. All 3 of us received appearance money with Brad and I also collecting a bit of prize money as the organizers paid down to 50th. The drive home was much easier than the way out and we returned home with relative ease. Matt prepared dinner while Brad played on the computer and I gained another victory over Glenn in chess. Our legs were pretty smashed after the race so we didn't hang around long after dinner, everyone making their way to bed before 11pm. We now have enough experience to be able to read the races and should be able to finish the remainder of the trip off strongly with at least 7 races remaining. Our next races are set for Tuesday with a kermesse in Tremolo as well as a 140km Classic currently scheduled for Thursday in Rummen. Tomorrow we'll head out for 3 or 4 hours on the road most likely making the journey over to La Bas for a coffee and chat!
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