Saturday morning early rise, a quick dash to the 24hr Asda for provisions and then off to the Eurotunnel for the 09.24 crossing. Delays had been reported on the internet but thankfully by the time we checked in all delays cleared and we arrived in France on schedule. The race in Bekegem was an 1hr 30mins from the Channel tunnel and we planned to arrive 2hrs before race start to set up the bike, check the course and warm on Cyclops rollers (good job we have fold up rollers, otherwise we wouldn’t have fit them in the car!). The drive to Bekegem was very wet and I was worried about the safety in the race if the rain continued... Luckily it didn’t and on the recce we found Bekegem to be a typical Belgium Kermesse (4km loops through a town centre, disappearing into the local countryside before returning into the centre via a sharp right turn and some fairly friendly cobbles).
Signing on proved fairly ok (sometimes a challenge in Belgium because of our lack of Flemish) and was also very busy. 61 riders signed on for the 2.45 start with many quality riders from Belgium, Holland and me the only Englander..... No instructions issued in English but I’ve learnt some of the basics for left, right and the odd swear word! Most of the riders speak good English anyway!
As usual the race started very quickly! At the end of the first lap 20 riders had been dropped from the leading bunch. I was safely in the middle of the leading bunch. As the race went on riders continued to be swept up by the Broom wagon (last vehicle following the race usually signified by carrying a brush = riders being swept up!). I felt good and was very active at the front of the bunch, my Maxgear/Champion Systems kit really looked the business amongst some rather garish European kits! The cobbles proved challenging with some riders electing to clip out of their pedals to ensure their safety around the sharp bend. When the race got to the business end 2 riders managed to escape of the front of the race and with the bunch not working properly together the two escapee’s were not to be seen again. The riders back in the bunch set up for a bunch sprint for the remaining places. Two girls didn’t fancy the sprint for the line and managed to kick out of the bunch early surprising the pack and stealing third and fourth position. Thirty riders then contested the bunch sprint from the cobbles to the filmed finish line. Good positioning over the cobbles saw me finish in 6th in the bunch (I wasn’t quite as brave as some of the other riders), 10th overall. I was very pleased with this not yet back up to full fitness since Glandular fever earlier in the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment