Thursday, September 4, 2008

Brussels and The Climbs of Flanders

Yesterday I had the chance to go into Brussels and visit some family and friends. I first had lunch with my friend Romain and we caught up on all the racing that we both have done and talked about how the weather in Belgium is rough (he said he has only trained in shorts 4 times this year, every other time is with leg warmers). He is doing very well and getting ready for some big MTB races in France.

After eating I went to the house where I lived for nearly 10 months last year. I saw everyone in the family and it was funny to see how some things never change. We had a nice afternoon and then it was time for me to go back to Izegem. So I got on the train and headed back to the house where its just John, Ben and I because the under 23's left yesterday for the Tour de l’Avenir.

Today John and I went on a very ambitious ride. We rode down to the climbs of Flanders where the Tour of Flanders takes place. It was awesome to be riding the same roads that you see on TV but let my tell you that riding up the cobble climbs is not fun at all. You start every climb thinking your Tom Boonen but once your half way up you want to turn around and stop the painful assault. Anyway we had a good ride and the sun finally decided to shine in Belgium even though I still did the whole ride with leg warmers, a jacket and long fingered gloves.

After todays killer ride a walking around Brussels yesterday I think I'm going to take tomorrow easy before I do an other race on Saturday.

Living the dream
Ian

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