It's been a while I know so I guess i'll start from where I left off.
On the 16th of June, Addison (my roomie and team mate) and I packed the car and headed up to Minnesotta to stay for a couple of nights and pack up the RV before heading across to Wisconsin for the Tour of America's Dairyland. After being held up in Minnesotta due to a tornadoe we finnally got into Wisconsin in the wee hours of the morning to start racing the tour. It was going to be 11 days, 10 stages in 9 cities across the "Dairyland State".
A wet day in Waterloo
I won't go through every stage but I was pretty happy with the results considering I was on my back in hospital paralyzed from a virus just a week before the start of the race. I managed to grab afew top 40's and a 26th was my best result for the tour. All in all it was good tour and was a great opportunity to race against some big US teams.
Hanging out in another Walmart
After Tour of America's Dairyland was done and dusted we worked out we had traveled close to 1500 miles in 2 weeks and parked way too many nights in Walmart parking lots. Once back in STL my good mate Matt Camilleri called me up and asked me had I booked my tickets back home yet and if I hadn't I should come stay and race with him in Belgium for a month. I was in like Jim and after a couple of frantic weeks trying to get an international licence and flights sorted out I was stepping of the plane in Brussels.
Matt mid park up on the first ride in Belgie
After struggling with a suitcase, bike bag and the language barrier I finally jumped off the train in Lierde the town that would be my home for the next 5 weeks. I still don't know where Lierde is in relation to Brussels or the rest of Belgium but I'm guessing it's in the south becuase it's only an hour ride and you're into France. The area is pretty much holy ground in regards to cycling with many of the big pro races traversing the roads here and the Muur and the Koppenberg which are brutal cobbled climbs are within 30 minutes ride.
The Muur. This is a brutal cobble climb that features in the classic Tour of Flanders.
Yesterday was my first race in Belgium and was an under 23 race about 15km away. The race went well and after 50kms I pulled the pin as I'm told you don't want to go too deep in your first race because you can end up digging a big hole. It's hard to explain how much the Belgians love their cycling but everyday day there is a race on in a town within riding distance and all the townsfolk will be out to watch the race and grab a wurst and beer.
The streets of Geraadsbergen. A stage of Le Tour went up here a few years ago...
Well I'm off to get ready for another race tomorrow. Until next time keep living the dream and take care.
Chev.
