A wise man (not like one of those wisemen in Jesus' time) told me the other day that today was going to be like my first day at school and he wasn't wrong....I suppose that's why he's a wise person. As you know today was the biggest bicycle race I have entered in my life and I loved every single second, pedal stroke, water sip, crash dodging and snot blowing moment of it. Before I go into details of the race let me take you back to 05:40am Belgium time and how the day panned out.....
So my alarm "Quak Quaked" at 05:40am....my alarm is on my ipod and the quak quak noise is the only decent alarm ringtone that I don't mind waking up to....I don't overly like waking up to any alarm actually, when I was back home my mumsy was alarm clock waking me up with a cup of coffee every morning - if some of you like the sound of that, I can rent her out so please get in touch. Apologies for all the digressing that may happen in this blog entry, I'm still a little wired after the race and high on energy food. Alarm went off, I closed my eyes for 10minutes saying my "Shalom's" and then ungracefully got myself out of bed, got dressed and tried to shovel down as much nutella on bread as was possible. I did ok, not great but ok....normally I'm very good at eating but not at silly o'clock in the morning. Food eaten, bag and bike good to go and off we set. First stop was to pick up the team car to accompany the team van and at the point of stepping in the team car I was ever so thankful that I was tired as the journey there was an experience in itself.
I'm going to tell you about the car journey as it was insane!! Me, Mariska and Jeroen hop in the car and the man driving it (I don't know his name so I'll call him Cyril for this story). My first cause for concern was how he slammed his foot on the gas with the clutch pedal still all the way in and attempted to move kind of slowly out the drive until he rammed his foot out the clutch and we were off in first gear ragging away for a good minute until second gear was found and eventually third, I think fourth gear was used once or twice - how that engine still works I don't know....that wasn't the main cause for concern however, the main problem was the distcint lack of breaking when coming up to a junction at 70mph or driving toward a lorry in a lane no bigger than a green lane in Jersey. My eyes were then closed for the whole journey except for opening a few times to respond to text messages from my friends. I was rather releived to get out the car along with my other passengers, Cyril apparently was unaware of his driving skills or lack there of.
At the HQ and it was all looking rather professional, teams with their vans and bicycles all set up nicely and what not, and there was me looking like a little bit of riff raff who had lost her way. After nibbling away at more food it was time to get ready and massage some heat rub on the pins and go and sign on and have a few snaps taken - clearly nobody in Belgium knew I was a right chopper so I put on my best smile and let them continue snapping unawares. Onto the start line and we're off. The race started at a pretty gentle pace, a little bit of bumping and burging with the odd Surge here and there and within a few minutes, crash, someone went down. About 5minutes later same thing and so on for the next 30k or so....how I stayed upright I'll never know but I did it and I give myself a pat on the back as I was bricking it a tad at some point. I was near the back of the bunch when the first crash came so I thought I best move up to the front, got to the front and another crash came.....after that I just tried to sit somewhere in the middle and stay out of harms way. Unfortunately for me there was a crash just before the first time up the cobbled climb and the bunch got away from me. Did I give up and say "oh well bad luck, try the next race".....did I buggery....I then set myself on a mission to get back on the pack, first up was catch up to the team cars, when there it was trying to work my way up through them and what d'ya know I got back on, just in time for the cobbled climb again and I went "Pop" and out the back again....there was no catching that one back. I worked with a few others for a lap before we then sat up and worked our way around the course before being pulled one lap from the finish.
All in all it was a great experience and I know now that I'm capable of getting on a pro team, I've just got to keep working hard, learning and taking the positives and negatives out of every race. Learn from the negative I hear you ask.....another wise man once told me, if you don't learn from the negatives how can you eliminate them from your performance in anything in life....now this man was clever, he was a psychologist, a very good one...always good to finish off with a bit of education.
I have way more to say but I've put you through enough torturous reading for one day, I'll be back tomorrow with more goss and a few special thank-you's for the people who are helping me try and acheive my goals as without them I wouldn't be here writing exciting stuff for you to read after my first big race.
Thanks for reading,
Laters mongrels
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Nervy B
Word up peoples,
Quick pop quiz, do you know who sings the popular culture song "Word Up"!? No going on to google to find out.....my friend thought it was by Bobby Brown - I can tell you Bobby Brown did not sing that song! I'll put you out of your misery, it was Cameo.
Right, education lesson for the day over and done with to business and tomorrow is my first proper big race and I'm nicely bricking it....I don't have the nervous shakes or feel sick yet, I doubt I will get to that stage as I've been there before in my badminton days and it was just stupid - I think I was that nervous I missed the shuttle all the time - I looked like a right plonker on court. I always looked like a plonker on court actually and pretty much the same on a bicycle, some things never change. Tomorrow I'm racing in Le Samyn des Dames, if you've read my other blog posts you will already know that. The start list is out and there are some big teams racing it, Specialized Lululemon and Greenedge to name a few - nothing like throwing myself right into the deep end!!!!
I'm under no illusions that it's going to be rock hard and if I even just finish the race then I'll be happy, of course I'd like to try and finish half-way in the field but as a wise person used to tell me in my badminton days a few years ago, baby steps first and just enjoy the occassion, so I'm going to do just that whilst being as competitive as possible. After all it's a long season and I'm mostly just looking forward to getting started with the racing and enjoying this opportunity.
Tomorrow is an early start for us as we have quite a drive to get to the HQ so that means today will be a day of a bit of training, packing my kit for tomorrow, cleaning my bicycle, shaving my sparrow legs as the pins will be out tomorrow, eating nice and healthily and generally chilling out and holding the nerves at bay and of course spending far too much time on facebook!
Salut
Quick pop quiz, do you know who sings the popular culture song "Word Up"!? No going on to google to find out.....my friend thought it was by Bobby Brown - I can tell you Bobby Brown did not sing that song! I'll put you out of your misery, it was Cameo.
Right, education lesson for the day over and done with to business and tomorrow is my first proper big race and I'm nicely bricking it....I don't have the nervous shakes or feel sick yet, I doubt I will get to that stage as I've been there before in my badminton days and it was just stupid - I think I was that nervous I missed the shuttle all the time - I looked like a right plonker on court. I always looked like a plonker on court actually and pretty much the same on a bicycle, some things never change. Tomorrow I'm racing in Le Samyn des Dames, if you've read my other blog posts you will already know that. The start list is out and there are some big teams racing it, Specialized Lululemon and Greenedge to name a few - nothing like throwing myself right into the deep end!!!!
I'm under no illusions that it's going to be rock hard and if I even just finish the race then I'll be happy, of course I'd like to try and finish half-way in the field but as a wise person used to tell me in my badminton days a few years ago, baby steps first and just enjoy the occassion, so I'm going to do just that whilst being as competitive as possible. After all it's a long season and I'm mostly just looking forward to getting started with the racing and enjoying this opportunity.
Tomorrow is an early start for us as we have quite a drive to get to the HQ so that means today will be a day of a bit of training, packing my kit for tomorrow, cleaning my bicycle, shaving my sparrow legs as the pins will be out tomorrow, eating nice and healthily and generally chilling out and holding the nerves at bay and of course spending far too much time on facebook!
Salut
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Molenberg
Evening Choppers and Choppettes,
What a weekend, I got to see some live cycling action yesterday watching the Omloop and today I got nice and lost for 90 whole minutes on a bicycle training ride .....other stuff happened this weekend so please do continue reading to discover more about the life of Kimmy in Belgium.
Okey dokey, I'll begin with Friday evening as that was a nice evening with my new housemates. We went into one of the cities to have a peruse (I do like that under-used word) around the shops in a shopping mall, I purchased a new battery for my Quarq Quarq as I had put too many powers through the old battery and it died on me. We then went for dinner in a nice restaurant and I got to learn some more new words and get to know my housemates better....I learnt the Kristina's boyfriend Jeroen can do foul smelling farts (or bottom burps for you posh peoples) which he kindly let off when we were in the car, I nearly puked!!
On to Saturday and the Omloop, the start of the Belgian classics. I had team training so I got to meet the rest of the team, explore new routes and have some fun attempting to ride my bicycle fast behind a car. We rode parts of the Omloop course and got to see the guys and girls in action. We rode around and then hit the Molenberg to tackle that little monster before chilling out at the top to wait for the ladies to power up it....unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see Tom Boonen, sorry I mean the guys go up it but we got to see them twice on other parts of the course so that was cool. We then had a nice team luncheon and saw the end of the Omloop on TV. Luckily it was a wonderfully sunny day so I got to work on my gardeners tan i.e. tanning my hands and face, roll on the summer heat and getting those tan lines topped up again!
Today I had a nice lie-in and rolled out of bed at a casual 9am to eat some bakery goods for breakfast before setting off for my training ride. I think the days of me getting out of bed in time to meet my training partner at west park for 8am are long gone....actually I think me getting out of bed before 8am won't be happening anytime again soon! Unless I need a wee in the middle of the night of course. Apologies, I digressed somewhat, back to today and my training ride....I had a nice 3hour ride planned and I thought I'd test my directional skills and see if I could ride the route we did yesterday and hit that Mollenberg again and find any other decent climbs and roads....I found plenty of climbs but unfortunately I didn't enjoy them so much as they all cropped up when I was lost, hungry and starting to fear for my life and thinking I'll never see my mumsy again....I was hoping not to come across any strange men as a few friends back home have warned me about strange men - thank god I didn't and 4hours later I arrive back home completely cooked and in need of a cola and a nutella sandwich! I managed to find my way to the Mollenberg just fine and I powered up it (actually it was more a grovel) but after that it all went Pete Tong and I got lost for 90 minutes when I was already cream crackered and had to tackle more bloody hills and wind. I see it as character building and all part of the adventure...
This week sees me getting into a nice little routine with training and getting back on the core work so I can attempt to look like a beach babe when the summer arrives, doubt that will happen but it's worth a shot and also my first proper hardcore race on Wednesday. The nerves are building up just nicely, in a good way though as I'm psyched to get started and discover a whole new world or cycling and racing and trying to achieve my dreams....but yeah I'm shitting it big time!
Anywho that's enough jibbering on for now, I could do this all day as I'm very good at jibbering on about random nonsense....that's all I used to do when I was employed in previous jobs oh and make very good tea and coffee for everyone, I'm going to put that on my CV I think along with "has the ability to find her way home when lost" - excellent credentials I know.
Bonne Nuit
What a weekend, I got to see some live cycling action yesterday watching the Omloop and today I got nice and lost for 90 whole minutes on a bicycle training ride .....other stuff happened this weekend so please do continue reading to discover more about the life of Kimmy in Belgium.
Okey dokey, I'll begin with Friday evening as that was a nice evening with my new housemates. We went into one of the cities to have a peruse (I do like that under-used word) around the shops in a shopping mall, I purchased a new battery for my Quarq Quarq as I had put too many powers through the old battery and it died on me. We then went for dinner in a nice restaurant and I got to learn some more new words and get to know my housemates better....I learnt the Kristina's boyfriend Jeroen can do foul smelling farts (or bottom burps for you posh peoples) which he kindly let off when we were in the car, I nearly puked!!
On to Saturday and the Omloop, the start of the Belgian classics. I had team training so I got to meet the rest of the team, explore new routes and have some fun attempting to ride my bicycle fast behind a car. We rode parts of the Omloop course and got to see the guys and girls in action. We rode around and then hit the Molenberg to tackle that little monster before chilling out at the top to wait for the ladies to power up it....unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see Tom Boonen, sorry I mean the guys go up it but we got to see them twice on other parts of the course so that was cool. We then had a nice team luncheon and saw the end of the Omloop on TV. Luckily it was a wonderfully sunny day so I got to work on my gardeners tan i.e. tanning my hands and face, roll on the summer heat and getting those tan lines topped up again!
Today I had a nice lie-in and rolled out of bed at a casual 9am to eat some bakery goods for breakfast before setting off for my training ride. I think the days of me getting out of bed in time to meet my training partner at west park for 8am are long gone....actually I think me getting out of bed before 8am won't be happening anytime again soon! Unless I need a wee in the middle of the night of course. Apologies, I digressed somewhat, back to today and my training ride....I had a nice 3hour ride planned and I thought I'd test my directional skills and see if I could ride the route we did yesterday and hit that Mollenberg again and find any other decent climbs and roads....I found plenty of climbs but unfortunately I didn't enjoy them so much as they all cropped up when I was lost, hungry and starting to fear for my life and thinking I'll never see my mumsy again....I was hoping not to come across any strange men as a few friends back home have warned me about strange men - thank god I didn't and 4hours later I arrive back home completely cooked and in need of a cola and a nutella sandwich! I managed to find my way to the Mollenberg just fine and I powered up it (actually it was more a grovel) but after that it all went Pete Tong and I got lost for 90 minutes when I was already cream crackered and had to tackle more bloody hills and wind. I see it as character building and all part of the adventure...
This week sees me getting into a nice little routine with training and getting back on the core work so I can attempt to look like a beach babe when the summer arrives, doubt that will happen but it's worth a shot and also my first proper hardcore race on Wednesday. The nerves are building up just nicely, in a good way though as I'm psyched to get started and discover a whole new world or cycling and racing and trying to achieve my dreams....but yeah I'm shitting it big time!
Anywho that's enough jibbering on for now, I could do this all day as I'm very good at jibbering on about random nonsense....that's all I used to do when I was employed in previous jobs oh and make very good tea and coffee for everyone, I'm going to put that on my CV I think along with "has the ability to find her way home when lost" - excellent credentials I know.
Bonne Nuit
Friday, February 24, 2012
Dress Down Day
Every Friday in my old job used to be dress down day so I thought I'd continue the tradition today and I've spent most of the day in my trackies and hoodie and generally chilling out as today is my rest day. I did don some cycling attire for a short while when I went exploring the area on my bicycle. My housemate and team-mate, Kristina, showed me a nice route yesterday by a river so I went out to see if I could remember how to get there, which surprisingly I did. And people say women have no sense of direction!!!
Today marks the end of my first week with my new family and life in Belgium and I've enjoyed every minute of it....thankfully I'm not a home-sick kind of person so it's been pretty easy for me to adapt to life over here, but I have to say it's been even easier by being so welcomed by my new family. Of course I have missed my friends and family back home but with the electronic communications that are around these days it feels like I haven't really left home. I've enjoyed a nice easy week this week and as of next week it's back into a routine and getting into the swing of it all.
This weekend the Belgian classics begin with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday which just so happens to go past right where I'm living! Perfect for me to try and get some snaps of the pro's and their hot legs. We have team training this weekend and tomorrow we are cycling some of the course to catch a glimpse of the women's and men's races in action so that should be pretty cool. It will also be good to meet the rest of my team mates before the racing starts on Wednesday and to learn some more of the lingo
Wednesday marks the official start of my 2012 cycling season and I am bricking it as I'm throwing myself right into the deep end and riding Le Samyn - if you haven't heard of it before, google it and you will soon understand why I am bricking it!! Having said that I'm super excited as I can finally get to see what level I'm at and how much I really have to progress to get to where I want to be....I'm under no illusions however that it's going to be rock hard and just finishing it will be an achievement in my book.
Okey dokey, Ta-Ta For Now
Today marks the end of my first week with my new family and life in Belgium and I've enjoyed every minute of it....thankfully I'm not a home-sick kind of person so it's been pretty easy for me to adapt to life over here, but I have to say it's been even easier by being so welcomed by my new family. Of course I have missed my friends and family back home but with the electronic communications that are around these days it feels like I haven't really left home. I've enjoyed a nice easy week this week and as of next week it's back into a routine and getting into the swing of it all.
This weekend the Belgian classics begin with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday which just so happens to go past right where I'm living! Perfect for me to try and get some snaps of the pro's and their hot legs. We have team training this weekend and tomorrow we are cycling some of the course to catch a glimpse of the women's and men's races in action so that should be pretty cool. It will also be good to meet the rest of my team mates before the racing starts on Wednesday and to learn some more of the lingo
Wednesday marks the official start of my 2012 cycling season and I am bricking it as I'm throwing myself right into the deep end and riding Le Samyn - if you haven't heard of it before, google it and you will soon understand why I am bricking it!! Having said that I'm super excited as I can finally get to see what level I'm at and how much I really have to progress to get to where I want to be....I'm under no illusions however that it's going to be rock hard and just finishing it will be an achievement in my book.
Okey dokey, Ta-Ta For Now
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wah Gwan
Wah Gwan mah neegs,
I wasn't sure of a title for this blog entry or how to say hello to you all, so I went with the gangsta way of saying "What's Up All".....consider this blog a part of your education for the day (I'm too kind I know). If you are over the age of 25 however, I would suggest you refrain from using the above phrase as you will just sound like a Plum and get some strange looks from people!
Righty ho, down to business and informing you all of what's been happening or more than likely in my case what's not been happening as I'm pretty good at doing nothing. I got another tour around the Belgian roads yesterday by Gert, it felt like I was back home as it was windy as hell and a little chilly. No problem though as I donned some suitable clothing and got on with it....in a strange way I didn't mind the wind too much. I watched a nice bit of English TV yesterday also, of course with subtitles so I can try and learn the lingo some more, I think I'm actually starting to understand it a bit more now.
Today I had another lovely lie-in, I'm getting that hang of this laying in business, I then trotted down to the kitchen to start my day off with some nutella on bread, a few coffee's and then I hopped (not literally) onto my turbo for training. As I don't know my way around too great yet I'm mixing in a bit of turbo and the road so I can stick to Sensai's plan - as I would very much hate for Sensai or anyone else to think I'm weak and just cruising around all day! I think I sweated out half my body weight on that turbo session but I certainly felt the difference of being able to train whenever I want instead of cramming it in after work. The thought of my first proper hardcore race also motivated me as it's going to be bloody hard as nails and to say I'm, excuse my French, "Shitting it", is an understatement!!!!
So, the rest of my day today will be spent recovering from this mornings training and then heading out again this afternoon/evening and then the routine begins again tomorrow......I certainly don't miss my old life of working, training and sleeping. I best be off now for a little nap and some food and then another bicycle ride.
For now, Salut Choppers
I wasn't sure of a title for this blog entry or how to say hello to you all, so I went with the gangsta way of saying "What's Up All".....consider this blog a part of your education for the day (I'm too kind I know). If you are over the age of 25 however, I would suggest you refrain from using the above phrase as you will just sound like a Plum and get some strange looks from people!
Righty ho, down to business and informing you all of what's been happening or more than likely in my case what's not been happening as I'm pretty good at doing nothing. I got another tour around the Belgian roads yesterday by Gert, it felt like I was back home as it was windy as hell and a little chilly. No problem though as I donned some suitable clothing and got on with it....in a strange way I didn't mind the wind too much. I watched a nice bit of English TV yesterday also, of course with subtitles so I can try and learn the lingo some more, I think I'm actually starting to understand it a bit more now.
Today I had another lovely lie-in, I'm getting that hang of this laying in business, I then trotted down to the kitchen to start my day off with some nutella on bread, a few coffee's and then I hopped (not literally) onto my turbo for training. As I don't know my way around too great yet I'm mixing in a bit of turbo and the road so I can stick to Sensai's plan - as I would very much hate for Sensai or anyone else to think I'm weak and just cruising around all day! I think I sweated out half my body weight on that turbo session but I certainly felt the difference of being able to train whenever I want instead of cramming it in after work. The thought of my first proper hardcore race also motivated me as it's going to be bloody hard as nails and to say I'm, excuse my French, "Shitting it", is an understatement!!!!
So, the rest of my day today will be spent recovering from this mornings training and then heading out again this afternoon/evening and then the routine begins again tomorrow......I certainly don't miss my old life of working, training and sleeping. I best be off now for a little nap and some food and then another bicycle ride.
For now, Salut Choppers
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sup Y'all
Hiya choppers, it's me again. Back to give you a little insight into my beautiful little world and what's been happening in it.
To be honest not a lot has happened over the past two days and it's been nice to just "live the dream". Monday I was meant to go for a cycles ride with my housemate and team-mate but fortunately for my sleep requirements it rained and was sub-zero temperatures overnight so I got to have a nice long sleep and finally got out of my pit at around 11am. Of course all of you would have been in your offices, or wherever else you may work, drinking coffee (or tea if you are into that stuff) and talking about what happened in Eastenders or Coronation Street when you caught up with episodes by watching the weekend omnibus. Anywho, back to me as that is why you are reading......Monday continued with a nice little turbo spin whilst listening to some classic Whitney Housten and I then cleaned little Mel Madone, had a nap, ate some nutella, had dinner and went to sleep.....all in all it was a splendid rest day and long may they continue.
Onto today and it started off nicely again with another long sleep, a little bit of email and skype action and of course facebook, a little nap and then some nutella and then a ride with one of the riders from the guys team, Gert. He took me on an awesome route and showed me some pretty hardcore climbs, on all of them I was thankful for having my little 39 chainring as some of them were bloody hardcore. He then took me up a nice cobbled climb and I had the shakes for a good minute after that climb. It was a cracking ride and Gert took me up some of the climbs that are in the Belgian classics and around some pretty cool roads....I have more of the same planned with him tomorrow and cannot wait.
Anywho that's enough about cycling, more about life in Belge and my new "family". I've settled in nicely with my new family, well I like them and I hope they like me so if they do like me then yeah for sure I've settled in nicely. I'm starting to get a bit of an accent which I hope to progress onto speaking Dutch....I'm learning the lingo and picking up new words everyday, today on the ride I even had to teach Gert how to say left and right in Dutch, and he says his English isn't so good! Mariska is one of the daughters of the family I'm staying with and to say she is a good cook is an understatement....she is like Delia Smith but better!!! Tonight she cooked an awesome Lasagne which was well received after a long evening ride. Kristina is the eldest daughter and also a rider on the team and she is helping me learn Dutch whilst also showing me around Belgium and where we live and being a good translator to help me understand what's being said so basically yeah the family are cool and it's nice to be a part of a big family though I do miss my mumsy.
Apologies if I have been blabbering on, it's 22:15 here right now (I do like military time) and I'm a tad tired and also rather cooked after today's ride. I also couldn't be bothered to proof read this before sending that important Publish button so if there are any spelling errors or it doesn't read nicely, well I send my sincerest apologies.
For now, I shall say laters and as the Belgians say, Salut (that means bye bye)
To be honest not a lot has happened over the past two days and it's been nice to just "live the dream". Monday I was meant to go for a cycles ride with my housemate and team-mate but fortunately for my sleep requirements it rained and was sub-zero temperatures overnight so I got to have a nice long sleep and finally got out of my pit at around 11am. Of course all of you would have been in your offices, or wherever else you may work, drinking coffee (or tea if you are into that stuff) and talking about what happened in Eastenders or Coronation Street when you caught up with episodes by watching the weekend omnibus. Anywho, back to me as that is why you are reading......Monday continued with a nice little turbo spin whilst listening to some classic Whitney Housten and I then cleaned little Mel Madone, had a nap, ate some nutella, had dinner and went to sleep.....all in all it was a splendid rest day and long may they continue.
Onto today and it started off nicely again with another long sleep, a little bit of email and skype action and of course facebook, a little nap and then some nutella and then a ride with one of the riders from the guys team, Gert. He took me on an awesome route and showed me some pretty hardcore climbs, on all of them I was thankful for having my little 39 chainring as some of them were bloody hardcore. He then took me up a nice cobbled climb and I had the shakes for a good minute after that climb. It was a cracking ride and Gert took me up some of the climbs that are in the Belgian classics and around some pretty cool roads....I have more of the same planned with him tomorrow and cannot wait.
Anywho that's enough about cycling, more about life in Belge and my new "family". I've settled in nicely with my new family, well I like them and I hope they like me so if they do like me then yeah for sure I've settled in nicely. I'm starting to get a bit of an accent which I hope to progress onto speaking Dutch....I'm learning the lingo and picking up new words everyday, today on the ride I even had to teach Gert how to say left and right in Dutch, and he says his English isn't so good! Mariska is one of the daughters of the family I'm staying with and to say she is a good cook is an understatement....she is like Delia Smith but better!!! Tonight she cooked an awesome Lasagne which was well received after a long evening ride. Kristina is the eldest daughter and also a rider on the team and she is helping me learn Dutch whilst also showing me around Belgium and where we live and being a good translator to help me understand what's being said so basically yeah the family are cool and it's nice to be a part of a big family though I do miss my mumsy.
Apologies if I have been blabbering on, it's 22:15 here right now (I do like military time) and I'm a tad tired and also rather cooked after today's ride. I also couldn't be bothered to proof read this before sending that important Publish button so if there are any spelling errors or it doesn't read nicely, well I send my sincerest apologies.
For now, I shall say laters and as the Belgians say, Salut (that means bye bye)
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Holy Moly
Holy Moly. I like the phrase Holy Moly, I would perhaps go so far as saying it is in my "Top 5" of phrases. In fact I would definitely say it is in my "Top 5" of phrases. Anywho, back to business and informing all you avid readers or bored souls with nothing better to do than read this drivel, of what's been happening in good ol' Belgium today.
Yesterday was my first race and boy did it hurt! I thought I was actually feeling ok after my mammoth drive on Friday however I soon found out that a mammoth dive mixed with riding against Belgian riders does not make for a good cocktail, so to speak. Having said that I still gave it my all on the day and what d'ya know, I only went and bopped out a peak 1minute and 5minute effort along with a max heart rate, I do love a good bit of data review as it kind of makes the pain worthwhile. Back to the race and it was great to pin a number back on again and to get the season started after a long and painful winter. The course wasn't too technical, only involving a few cobble patches, corners and a nasty little hill.....oh and lots of wind (no, not from me!). It was a mixed race with the ladies joining the junior boys with us following a car for 4 laps and then 4 laps of proper racing, unfortunately I didn't last the whole race and got pulled out with a few laps to go. All was not lost however as I learnt one important lesson when racing in the wind......Positioning is key! I was like a scared little kitten in the bunch on the first few laps and because of this I was having to chase back on after each corner and when the bunch split in the cross-winds and burnt far too many of those valuable matches. Onwards and upwards and roll on the next race on 29th February and some more pain and to learn to stop being a scared little kitten!!
So far all is going well in Belge, today I went for a spin with Kristina who is a rider on the team and the daughter of the family I'm staying with and Gert who is the boyfriend of Kristina's sister and I got to experience some more cobbles and riding on new roads oh and some more wind. Over the next week I'll be discovering the roads around here and the routes and mixing in a bit of turbo so I'm good to go for the next race and then it all kicks off properly.
Righty ho that's me done with typing for now as my fingers are tired and I need a nap before dinner (it's a hard life!)
Laters gaters
Yesterday was my first race and boy did it hurt! I thought I was actually feeling ok after my mammoth drive on Friday however I soon found out that a mammoth dive mixed with riding against Belgian riders does not make for a good cocktail, so to speak. Having said that I still gave it my all on the day and what d'ya know, I only went and bopped out a peak 1minute and 5minute effort along with a max heart rate, I do love a good bit of data review as it kind of makes the pain worthwhile. Back to the race and it was great to pin a number back on again and to get the season started after a long and painful winter. The course wasn't too technical, only involving a few cobble patches, corners and a nasty little hill.....oh and lots of wind (no, not from me!). It was a mixed race with the ladies joining the junior boys with us following a car for 4 laps and then 4 laps of proper racing, unfortunately I didn't last the whole race and got pulled out with a few laps to go. All was not lost however as I learnt one important lesson when racing in the wind......Positioning is key! I was like a scared little kitten in the bunch on the first few laps and because of this I was having to chase back on after each corner and when the bunch split in the cross-winds and burnt far too many of those valuable matches. Onwards and upwards and roll on the next race on 29th February and some more pain and to learn to stop being a scared little kitten!!
So far all is going well in Belge, today I went for a spin with Kristina who is a rider on the team and the daughter of the family I'm staying with and Gert who is the boyfriend of Kristina's sister and I got to experience some more cobbles and riding on new roads oh and some more wind. Over the next week I'll be discovering the roads around here and the routes and mixing in a bit of turbo so I'm good to go for the next race and then it all kicks off properly.
Righty ho that's me done with typing for now as my fingers are tired and I need a nap before dinner (it's a hard life!)
Laters gaters
Friday, February 17, 2012
New Family
The fact that I'm able to write this blog entry means just one thing.....I made it to my new home in Belgium ALIVE!!! I know that some of you out there doubted little Kimmy's driving and that I may well have ended up in a gutter in my car somewhere on some scary motorway, well shame on you for doubting me....I did it, albeit through the help of some superb mix cd's. Some artists included Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Whitney Housten, Mariah Carey and the cast of High School Musical! And no I don't listen to that kind of music when training, I listen to hardcore dance, not happy hardcore, just hardcore dance.
I used to think that I enjoyed driving, I now know that I do indeed driving but only for a couple of hours, not 6 hours driving on the wrong side of the road and having to negotiate windscreen wipers, indicators and changing cd's. My hat goes off to truck drivers as after about 3hours I was starting to cramp up and I had to rummage for some electrolyte tabs just to stop the silly calf spasms. To think that I made it here with only two U-turns being needed also, I give myself a little pat on the back for that achievement!
So I arrived at my new home and met my new family, and they are pretty darn cool and I'm looking forward to getting to know them more through the rest of the season and actually being able to speak Dutch and who knows maybe even Flemish! I had a nice din-dins cooked for me this evening, which is far more than what I get at home with mumsy....normally she just leaves the bread on the side for me so I can plop it into the toaster!
Tomorrow is race day and I just found out that I'm racing with the guys...should be a hoot!! Though it probably won't be much different to winter training as that has felt like racing at some points whilst grovelling onto Sensai's wheel...
Anyway I'm tired now and need to unpack my bits and bobs and get in some decent zzzz's as I'm somewhat fatigued. I just thoght you would all like to know I'm alive as no doubt you have all been worrying yourselves silly over the past 24hours to know if I'm alive or not!!!
Nighty night choppers
I used to think that I enjoyed driving, I now know that I do indeed driving but only for a couple of hours, not 6 hours driving on the wrong side of the road and having to negotiate windscreen wipers, indicators and changing cd's. My hat goes off to truck drivers as after about 3hours I was starting to cramp up and I had to rummage for some electrolyte tabs just to stop the silly calf spasms. To think that I made it here with only two U-turns being needed also, I give myself a little pat on the back for that achievement!
So I arrived at my new home and met my new family, and they are pretty darn cool and I'm looking forward to getting to know them more through the rest of the season and actually being able to speak Dutch and who knows maybe even Flemish! I had a nice din-dins cooked for me this evening, which is far more than what I get at home with mumsy....normally she just leaves the bread on the side for me so I can plop it into the toaster!
Tomorrow is race day and I just found out that I'm racing with the guys...should be a hoot!! Though it probably won't be much different to winter training as that has felt like racing at some points whilst grovelling onto Sensai's wheel...
Anyway I'm tired now and need to unpack my bits and bobs and get in some decent zzzz's as I'm somewhat fatigued. I just thoght you would all like to know I'm alive as no doubt you have all been worrying yourselves silly over the past 24hours to know if I'm alive or not!!!
Nighty night choppers
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
A day of lasts
What a day! Today was, at the title of this blog post suggests, a day of lasts for me......It was my last day at work in the office, my last bicycle ride with my training partner and seeing friends, and in a few hours it will be the last time I sleep in my little pit in my bedroom.
I surprised myself today by being a tad emotional at leaving work and my super duper work colleagues, they are actually pretty super duper. I made a few of them bye bye cards and then, being the original prankster that I am, played a nice prank on two of my colleagues to teach them a lesson for never making tea's or coffee's. The prank was a good one and worked a treat, off I went to the kitchen do my second round of drinks of the day without being offered one and instead of putting sugar in their mugs I put a palm full of salt in each one. I trotted back to the desks, gave them their coffee's and then watched them nearly vomit as they gupled a mouthful of salty coffee down them, that'll teach them not to do tea and coffee rounds! As a leaving present I should have given them a map with directions to the kitchen however now that I've left work I really don't mind if they make a brew or not.
My last bicycle ride with my training partner was emotional, I was strong and held back the tears and just battered the pedals instead of crying. I'm going to miss my training partner though as he made winter training in Jersey good fun, normally it's proper boring, cold and lonely, not so this year. I also said bye bye to most of my friends today, I don't have many friends so it didn't take too long to say bye to them.....but yeah I'm going to miss my friends when I'm gone.
Enough doom and gloom for now though. In return of saying bye to my friends over here today, on Friday I get to say Hi to new friends and my host family, the Coolens. I'm looking forward to meeting them and starting life in Belgium and riding my bicycle full-time and getting to "live the dream". Until then I have one more bicycle ride in Jersey so I can throw down some more mega powers and then it's onto the boat I go to France and then Friday I drive to Belgium whilst listening to some classic Whitney Housten and Celine Dion oh and Justin Bieber.....time to rock and roll.
I surprised myself today by being a tad emotional at leaving work and my super duper work colleagues, they are actually pretty super duper. I made a few of them bye bye cards and then, being the original prankster that I am, played a nice prank on two of my colleagues to teach them a lesson for never making tea's or coffee's. The prank was a good one and worked a treat, off I went to the kitchen do my second round of drinks of the day without being offered one and instead of putting sugar in their mugs I put a palm full of salt in each one. I trotted back to the desks, gave them their coffee's and then watched them nearly vomit as they gupled a mouthful of salty coffee down them, that'll teach them not to do tea and coffee rounds! As a leaving present I should have given them a map with directions to the kitchen however now that I've left work I really don't mind if they make a brew or not.
My last bicycle ride with my training partner was emotional, I was strong and held back the tears and just battered the pedals instead of crying. I'm going to miss my training partner though as he made winter training in Jersey good fun, normally it's proper boring, cold and lonely, not so this year. I also said bye bye to most of my friends today, I don't have many friends so it didn't take too long to say bye to them.....but yeah I'm going to miss my friends when I'm gone.
Enough doom and gloom for now though. In return of saying bye to my friends over here today, on Friday I get to say Hi to new friends and my host family, the Coolens. I'm looking forward to meeting them and starting life in Belgium and riding my bicycle full-time and getting to "live the dream". Until then I have one more bicycle ride in Jersey so I can throw down some more mega powers and then it's onto the boat I go to France and then Friday I drive to Belgium whilst listening to some classic Whitney Housten and Celine Dion oh and Justin Bieber.....time to rock and roll.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Hiiiiiiiiyyyyyyyaaaaaa
Hiiiiiiyyyyyaaaa!!
So here it goes, my first steps into the world of blogging and what better way to start than giving you all a big "hiya"! Believe it or not it's taken me about 20 minutes to think of the previous sentence, I could have done a 20 minute FTP effort in that time on my bicycle but instead I was struggling to think of how I should start my first blog entry. My mumsy always taught me that people judge you within the first 3 seconds of meeting you so I wanted to make the first sentence of my blog a corker so you don't all think I'm a whopper and stop reading.....no doubt my second and third sentences have now made you think I am indeed a complete whopper and you have closed this tab and gone back to our facebook chat!
Anywho, down to business.....the reason for this blog is to give all you avid readers a chance to see what happens in the life of me, Kim Ashton aka Bubble Bum, fantastic or what!?! So, tomorrow is my last day in the real world of working full-time before I begin my adventure of riding and racing my bicycle full-time for Wetterse Dakwerken-Autoglas Wetteren cycling team whilst living in Belgium for the cycling season. To say I'm excited would be an understatement, I'm also a little bit nervous as it means leaving my precious little home and my mumsy. Luckily mumsy has taught me well so I can (just about) look after myself, albeit through the help of her notes on how to thoroughly wash, clean and cook.
That's enough for my first blog entry as I have packing to do and din dins to eat and time is ticking by......I'll be updating this blog all too often no doubt so until then, laters!!
So here it goes, my first steps into the world of blogging and what better way to start than giving you all a big "hiya"! Believe it or not it's taken me about 20 minutes to think of the previous sentence, I could have done a 20 minute FTP effort in that time on my bicycle but instead I was struggling to think of how I should start my first blog entry. My mumsy always taught me that people judge you within the first 3 seconds of meeting you so I wanted to make the first sentence of my blog a corker so you don't all think I'm a whopper and stop reading.....no doubt my second and third sentences have now made you think I am indeed a complete whopper and you have closed this tab and gone back to our facebook chat!
Anywho, down to business.....the reason for this blog is to give all you avid readers a chance to see what happens in the life of me, Kim Ashton aka Bubble Bum, fantastic or what!?! So, tomorrow is my last day in the real world of working full-time before I begin my adventure of riding and racing my bicycle full-time for Wetterse Dakwerken-Autoglas Wetteren cycling team whilst living in Belgium for the cycling season. To say I'm excited would be an understatement, I'm also a little bit nervous as it means leaving my precious little home and my mumsy. Luckily mumsy has taught me well so I can (just about) look after myself, albeit through the help of her notes on how to thoroughly wash, clean and cook.
That's enough for my first blog entry as I have packing to do and din dins to eat and time is ticking by......I'll be updating this blog all too often no doubt so until then, laters!!
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