Wow. I probably sound like a kid in a sweet shop, but wow. I am so so thankful that I have been privileged to experience what I have over the last 4 weeks in Belgium. To everyone that has played a part in making this possible: moral support, financial contributions, advice, blog comments, Thank you.
What I learnt and then some arb facts:
Would I return; Can I perform better; Can I race at a higher level; Can I do this for an entire season (6 months); Can I do this for a living… All questions I guess I asked myself before coming here. I am embarrassed over how ridiculous my thoughts were only a mere 4 weeks ago.
We live in complete oblivion to the real world here in Belgium, cycling all day. So to answer the questions I posed I need to delve into the experiences one is challenged with here. Is there more to life than riding your bike? You come to realise first hand what the sacrifices are you make to be a full time cyclist. What you sacrifice and the relationships you start to neglect. Cycling is a very selfish sport – not because of who we are, but we become a product of the full time cycling environment.
I further discovered just how small and almost insignificant we are in our racing in SA. Jhb compares, Cpt – no comment. I raced 1.12B races for riders without contracts and got beaten fair and square. Next is 1.12A without contract, 1.2 with contract or closed invites, then you also have inter-clubs before you get to pro-crits and 1.1’s. I guess you just see the bigger picture and realise just because your fish bowl you living in is small doesn’t make you a whale in the ocean – you still a tiny fish.
The challenges are hard for guys trying to make it. People say “Belgium cracked him” but I’d rather say “Belgium opened his eyes”.
Pursue your dream. My dream has been achieved, it is now time for us (Chris & I) to set our dreams and pursue them… Don’t be left behind, live your life on the tightrope!
Some facts:
1. I have managed to rack up just short of 3000kms in the 29 days I have been in Belgium. To those that asked “You won’t be riding your bike everyday, will you?” I have to admit – I did take 5 days off: 2 because I didn’t have a bike, 1 because my knee was sore and 2 to rest. That is an average of 125kms a day, everyday… I only managed 11 races in the 4 weeks with steady placings between 26th and 40th at every race.
2. My Continental Gator Skin 25C tyres did an excellent job over the cobbles, at times terrible bike paths and the glass riddled shoulders of many E and N roads without bikepaths. The tires probably had around 3000km on them and were over 3years old at the start of the trip – I am well impressed!
3. 1 bottle of Mark II chamois cream helped keep mall them baddies away ha ha ha
4. The new MTN Cape Storm shorts were not up to the challenge: They caused blisters from the rubber on the shorts, the chamois is not the most comfy and they are rapidly deteriorating after a mere month of use… Don’t buy Cape Storm pants. My old Vermark MTN shorts, over a year old, performed steadily and was a pleasure to ride in – go Belgian shorts!
5. I slept an average of 11hours per night – that would explain why I could ride as much. I love not having the stresses of real life ;)
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