Broken bits, Rain,Toaka,Pukkelpop and Clubbing

Apologies for the lateness of my post as I have been alittle lazy of late.
Straight to the racing!Last week I woke up and said to myself that it was about time to turn the Switch on for a couple of races and actually ride my bike with anger for once this season.
I am well aware that my prep for this racing block, probaly wasnt one of my finest with no racing for 13 months and little aggresive training.
So off to west flanders I went to tackle a flat 120km race which would suit me to a tee.......well.As soon as the flag dropped the pace was on and on the first flat section the pace hit 62kph and the 140 of us riders were strung out into one painful line....i felt ok and after a few laps I decided to move up and get into the move....thats when my switch got turned off to the loud bang of my rear cosmic carbone spoke breaking and my bike loosing control as my wheel went spacko and nearly tossing me off as i tried to still race,after deciding that I didnt want to be the guy to bring the bunch down I kindly pulled out and into the Cafe.

A few days later I had the chance to race the local hometown race and decided to again turn some type of switch on.....probaly my first mistake as in the lead up to the race Belgium decided it would rain and then some for the next 36 hours.
Normally I would be running to the warmth of my couch and settling down to watch another romantic comedy and forget about cycling but as JoJo was more excited for his hometown race thn a pickled Ham at christmas I decided to pin on a number and try to harden up.
With the rain getting heavier as we approached the start I began thinking why Cam? why? But with every Belgian friend I have being at the race to try and cheer JoJo and I on, I knew I needed to atleast race 1 lap.
As soon as the whistle blew I decided to attack and see if anyone would come along for a few pain laps and was lucky to get 3 suckers to join me.
It became obvious that the only one in alot of pain on the first lap was me and my ego was quickly shut down.To say us Aussies are not really good at riding in the wet is an understatemnet and I freaked out alittle with the conditions and the fact that I could hardly see with what felt like every piece of dirt and grit in Belgium was in my eyes I decided to pull out of the race.I was looked upon by Belgians as a big wuss who had no heart.....NOT FAR WRONG and again quickly run for the shelter of my shower and again the local Cafe.
JoJo wenton to finish a strong 18th place as he rapidly improves...but he will never win unless he starts to pull his shorts down alittle as short shorts only have a place in an 80s gay club.

My new lady


One of the plans for this trip was to got to the music festival pukkelpop (pronounced pookelpop) the line up was impressive and I was excited to see Iron Maiden live as its just one of those things you can you have done.
This festival was huge and part of this trip was to camp for a few days as it was included with the festival.
As most people would know I am one for a bit more luxury and struggled with the camping scene and the lack of mirrors( gotta look good) and would of rounded out about 6 hours sleep for the 2 nights tahnks to the great people partying and playing music at 6am when Cam has just drifted off.
Goldfrapp my no.1 show


And silver pants to match


I also had the chance to go to one of the best clubs in Belgium with a friend and jumped at the oppurtinity to bust some moves and have a look at what a typical Belgie club is like.
Well............. Its goes something like this,very loud, lots of people OK music but still just on a Ipod shuffle mix,lots of women and lots of men wanting to be with them,me who just busted a few minor moves and had a few random conversations, a VIP room with no VIP people(myself included) and alot of wannabes....so it was your typical club which I really enjoyed even if I was half shagged from Pukkelpop.

Thats it for this update, I have a few exciting announcements to make in the coming weeks......though none will be an invitation to my wedding......damn Crystal!!!

Cam

Lockeren = Damn Fast

120kms,134 riders and a dead flat course. That only means one ting in Belgium......Damn fast racing!!!!
A great warm day of 24 greeted us tardy riders for the 3rd round of Stad Lokeren, I had missed the first 2 as I am a fair weather rider(there I sais it) and prefer not to get wet.
After riding to the race I had a nice 30 km warm up with only a few short Cam detours thrown in (alittle lost)and I was feeling pretty good at the start line.Looking around I noticed former silver medal winning cyclocross pro American Jonathan Page who was looking rather cool and American.
From the gun we were sprawled out into single file as most clung on for dear death just trying to hold the wheel and not get dropped to soon, I on the other hand was feeling rather good and I finally feel comfertable at the high speeds over here and was enjoying the first hour at an average speed of 45.6kph.
With a nice short cornered cobble section(just put in to help the bike industry) I found myself with enough strength to start looking to get into some moves and have a bit of a crack..... though riding at the front to sitting in was another story and if you wanted to ride away from this bunch of lads you would have to be sitting on 55 in the twisty sections and 60 on the flat sections so it was a hard task.

I decided to try anyway and as I was just about near fron the big boys(probaly sensing The Cam was abbout to ride!!) attacked hard at the front and the winning break was formed at around the 75km mark.
As this large group of around 20 moved away it became obvious that there was alittle blocking going on and was fairly obvious that all the Lithuanian riders(even in different teams) were working for eachover and wanted in on some of those Euros.
I wasnt to fussed and the rest of us just rode around the rest of the race at a slow average og around 44kph for the remaining hour.
Sometimes you can smell a mass bunch sprint and the fact that they were paying top 30 was a nice deal breaket to sprint for that crisp 10 euro note!!!With the normal elbows and chopping going on I decided not to risk my pretty butt(butt man!!)and would sit this one out and roll over for an eventual 109th place which reeally didnt show off my good form for the day.

In the end It was a good idea as a mass crash happened over the finishline claiming some skin and ego and giving a few young Lions the chance to fet a ride with the Red Cross.
A good day none the less which saw me rack up 187kms in 5hr15mins not a bad day in the training log.
So that was Lokeren,Erodegem on Monday as I take a break over the weekend.

Till soon



Butt Man

Week 3 down & Johan

Now coming into my fourth week here in Belgium and now I am starting to get some of that Proper Belgian weather of rain and wind! Luckily it is still quite warm so you can put up with the rain.
The only downside of the wet is racing in the rain and something I really dread and so I have missed the 2 last races of Stad Lokeren as I do noy feel like getting wet and dont wanna chance getting sick.
I have still been able to get out on the bike to do some adventuring on new roads and am happy to say that I have not been getting as lost lately and have finally found my bearings.
I am looking forward to racing 3 races in the next 5 days if the weather holds as fridays race will feature alot of cobbles and Mondays race will be a fairly local race which also features a nice cobbled climb and for me that pretty much makes it a mini classic.
Other than that I have just been sitting back and relaxing,playing witj Toaka the dog and talking alot with my coach Mac about the rest of the year and what my goals are.....to say at the moment I would just like to break some PBs over here.

Other than that here is a picture of my neughbours,they are a fairly roudy bunch,though not to bad on the eye......for Belgians

Cam

Also befor I forget the other day I got the chance to breifly ride with the Lion of Flanders Johan Musseuw as his bunch rode along side me and I was speechless to say the least.

Bambrugge Photos

Lede Criterium Photos

Leading to Lede

LEDE CRITERIUM 69KM

Friday night saw my first ever Criterium in Europe.Crits over here are not like the Crits of Aus,the race greeted me with a hard twisty circuit which included 8 corners and a distance of 69kms.
The good thing about this race was that I was paid 20 euro start money which is always good for the morale.
A nice large peleton as usual started the race and with a large crowd and mant supporters and fans of JoJo to set the scene for a great night.
We had to complete 30 laps of this challenging circuit which featured 2 small climbs and a rather nast high speed cobble section on a corner.
The race started off with the usual high speed start that I am becoming more than used to and we were suddenly strung out into single file,entering one of the last corners of the first lap I was pushed into the gutter at high speed and found myself hurtling out of control and preparing for a big crash......but somehow I found some skill and skidded my way out of harms way and back into the race.
With the speed in the high 50s I quickly settled into a rythym and rode around mid bunch as the big hitters attacked the living bajeebers out of us.
I found myself gaining most ground each lap on the cornered cobble section and finally found some use for my big butt(Butt Man) and was able to make a few places each lap.
Around half way and when I was feeling pretty good my rear wheel decided to have a bitch and I found myself with a rear flat...luckily for me I was allowed a lap out and got to enjoy an easy lap and enjoy the large crowd that had come out to enjoy the racing and also take in the random comments the crowd would yell to me as I looked for my spares man(comments which I had no idea what they were saying).
Unluckily for me as soon as I got my wheel change that was the lap the break was formed and I missed the chance to be in it(good excuse) as I had to go back to the main peleton.
After that the break of around 15 was gone and the rest of us attacked and attcked the living hell out eachover until the final lap were a crazy 40 man buch sprint was had, i wasnt feeling to brave and rolled in for a happy 32nd place.

The next day JoJo and I headed to Bambrugge for a 117km kermis and I had an off day and pulled the pin after 1 hour as the legs were saying no after the crit the previous night,JoJo hit some form and finished a hard 24th place in a quality field.

Thats racing for this week as I head to 3 days of racing at Stad Lokeron next week.

Till next post enjoy these photos from Lede criterium and Bambrugge Kermis and remember when in doubt..... ask what would Cam do?

Aalst Tour de France Criterium

AALST CRITERIUM

Some Lichtervelde pictures

Thanks to POMER Koersfotographie for the great shots.

LOST and CONFUSED

LICHTERVELDE 18X 6.1KM


Saturday greeted myself with another Kermis,JoJo and I travelled 70kms to west flanders or The Land of the Wind.
The race started off in typical Belgian style of really really fast and from the get go I was in lactic hell.
The course contained 2 small climbs with the main climb around 500 metres it was long enough to string out the bunch of 98 riders.

You know you are in a fast race when you think that you are going slow and that the pace has slowed and you look down at your speedo to see that you are doing 52kph on the flat.

I was having no problems on the flat sections until we would hit the main climb and I found myself stretched to the limits of my current form and alas at the 70km mark I pulled the pin after what was one damn hard race and a good training session in speed.
Still I was satisfied with my race and believe my form is coming.


LOUNDSKOUTER-OOSTERZELLE 13X9.1KM

On sunday i lined up for my second race in 2 days and I have to say that the legs were feeling good.
125 riders lined up for this Kermis race in oost vlaanderen and I started to become nervous when I saw several pro team cars rocking up with riders.
Lucklily for myself there was no major climbs and the course was fairly flat.
As soon as the whistle blew the pace was on and it was evident that none of the top riders wanted to hang around in the bunch for long.
The first hour was on a average of over 44 kph and we would reach speeds of over 65kph on some sections as the front runners tried to break away.
On the second lap a big group of around 25 got away and quickly built up a lead of 30 seconds, this made me happy as the pace in the main peleton slowed for a few minutes as they decided what to do.
This gave me some time to move up closer to the front and see what I could do.........Well I couldnt do much! I tried a few attacks with some other guys but as soon as I hit the front I could see that I still lack the race speed to be able to bridge the gaps.
After a few laps my Belgian bro JoJo was able to get into a move and was able to ride in the 2nd peleton and would eventually finish a completely buggered 40th.
I was happy to finish in the bunch and finish my first race of the season in style and kept the Lance fans happy with my black socks( as acording to most Belgians I look like the Boss.....)which had good height.

So 3 races down in 5 days and about 13 to go so I should find some form somewhere......RIGHT?

Tomorrow I will post some photos of the Aalst tour de francr criterium and show you some sexy photos of Ale Jet abd Fabian.

Cams Tip;If you are ever feeling ugly and unwanted,go visit Aalst in Belgium and you are sure to feel alot and I mean alot better about yourself.

Cam

53 minutes of fantastic pain

Well i am finally here! Back in the land of chocolate and Beer,it was a long long 32hour journey to the end of the earth.
After a few days of wandering around with a massive case of jetlag I can now say that i have settled into Belgian life.
My first few days I spent sleeping and getting to know the area where i will be based for the next 6 weeks.
I will be based in Mere which is a tiny town around 25kms away from Brussells, i have to say that the house in which i am staying is a very European house which i think is actually older than Australia

And the house comes equiped with a typical Belgian view of paddicks and Cows.


THE RACE



I was in a bit of a hard place when i lined up for Wednesdays race in Kerksken. Kerksken is my old hometown from back in 2007 when i was quite a shy friendly young lad.
Mainly the reason i was in such a bad place at the start was because of the hammering i got in playing Paintball a few days earlier and i believe it was shoot the Aussie day and I have so many bruises I am beginning to look like my ex wife.

The Kerksken Kermis was 13 hard laps of a 9.1 km circuit which included 2 climbs and some crazy technical roads which would even test the best of the Fat Bastards.

With a few pro riders lining up at the start i begun to think that my first race back in 12 months was not going to be a walk in the park.

Bang as soon as the whistle blew the race was on! and starting on the 2nd climb I felt as though I was already on my limit, as usual a group formed on the first lap which meant that the whole ^peleton went crazy trying to catch up and we began to spend alot of time over the 60kmh mark.

After about 30 minutes i was feeling OK but the race pace was just so so fast i couldnt seem to get into a rythym and begun to hurt like a mother, the only place that i felt comfortable was on the main climb which went for about a 1km and the pace would slow to about 35kmh.

Feeling good did not last that long and soon it was clear that the lack of race days and lack of speed training was not on my side and I pulled the pin at the 53 minute mark and with around 45 kms on the clock.

To say I am pretty happy with my first race this season and believe that I will hit some good form in the next few weeks.

Here is a good photo of my Belgian brother JoJo in the white and myself hurting at the start,JoJo went on to finish in the bunch for another strong performance.

Here you see the bunch as we hit the base of the main climb,i am at the back in my Duro kit

So my first race is down as is my first week, I plan on racing again on saturday and sunday and will then go and watch the Tour de France criterium in Aalst this Monday which should be good for a perv.

Cam