Linden

Picture from Merelbeke:

http://www.wielerseizoenfotos.be/page13.php?view=preview&category=32&q=&ImageGalleryPage=2&image=3334

For the 4-th week in a row; it's race time. This time near Leuven in Linden. The weather is perfect for me; there is a lot of wind; the loop is 9 km and there is a 1km uphill stretch in the loop. I already love this race.

The number of riders is 130 and some people I know from my past in the peleton. Tom de Feyter and Yves van Gorp are present in the race. It's nice to know some people in the peleton. I just started the race and Cedric Van Lommel is standing next to the road. A good rider and ex-professional and good friend of my brother. Nice to see familiar faces next to the road. The race itself is going pretty good for me for the first 6 laps. Then I get thirsty and luckily Jef Wuyts is there to fill my water bottle :) Thanks alot Jef. However, this did not help me in staying with the pack. After 1 hour and 45 minutes my body suddenly decides to stop performing on a recup stretch even. I already felt that each time we had to climb the hill, my heart rate went to about 185. This makes this race more exceptional than the other races before. This 7 times going so deep has the effect on my body that it stopped immediately. I tried to bridge the gap to the peleton for about 2 km; but it was no use; I had to surrender and be a little bit disappointed. I performed better than last Wednesday; but I did not expect the regression in my results; however; I am giving myself time and overall I am happy with how I am feeling on the bike so far.

Euer,
Joris