Welcome to the US National Team House in Iseghem, Belgium,
The country welcomed us in typical fashion with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees and a light drizzle. Having arrived 5 days before racing, early enough to demand a few days of “real” training, we pedaled out to some of the cobbled climbs like the Kemmelburg and the Old Kwarmont, legends of the Belgian Classics still painted with the names of cycling heros, into Ieper, a town marked by World War I and host to many commemorative monuments. We smacked each other around sprinting playfully for town limit signs, and stopped at cafes in their centers.
Els, the house mom, served up army portions of dinner, and treated us to chocolate cakes in honor of my 21st. Afterwards we shared quality Belgian brews in the square for a memorable yet far from typical American 21st birthday.
GP de Portugal (Nations Cup): 3 days, 3 stages
Stage 1: 135 km 3×33km finishing circuits
Racing answers questions that we work hard to prepare for. I’d finally seen some improvement in training, but had no idea how it would stack up against the worlds best U23 riders. As these can no longer be written off as “preseason training races,” I have some hopes and expectations. Let me resolve some potential confusion. Portugal is not warm, nor dry.
Waves of cold rain pelted us throughout the day. The field of ultra aggressive racers insured a rapid day. However, I’ve noticed that guys will thrash themselves to get in a breakaway, but hesitate to commit and open a substantial gap. In response we tried to conserve energy for a move in the last lap. At the 20 km to go sign, I let myself go crazy trying to make a breakaway stick. Instead of splitting at the front, riders slipped off the back until there were around 60 in the lead. It was encouraging to be attacking the climbs, but by body began to freeze. Cold can be a mental obstacle for some and try to this as an advantage, but this time it had physical effects. I shivered out of control to the point that I was having trouble steering, and didn’t contest the sprint. I rolled in middle of the front group. No gain, no loss.
Warm tea was waiting at the finish. Although, it was nearly an hour before the shivering subsided. My first year U23 teammate Ian Boswell rode an impressive race, always attentive and finishing beside me. “The Boz” graduated HotTubes, my junior team. The other promising first years, Max Durtschi and Andrew Barker lost a bit of time, but I can attest to the steepness of the learning curve.