Reflecting on last weekend / reports / pics + outlook La Morzine

 

 On the descent and climb of the Grand Ballon (above) & suffering bigtime on the final climb...

 The full report and pictures of riders having finished the race in under 7h23:
http://cyclobenelux.com/nieuws/les-3-ballons-fotocollage-overige-cyclohelden

For the fans @De Pinte: here's the race data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92397066

A couple of days later, I started reflecting on Les 3 ballons 2011. I did all I could, but in the end, I had to let my top 100 place go just 2000 meters before the top of the Ballon d'Alsace. Now, I'm wondering: couldn't I have held on for just a little bit longer?... And what was that blow I got on La Plance all about?!... But that's all talk after the race. I did all I could, and have to remember next year that, next to the fact that being focused all day is absolutely necessary, everything can still be lost in the final 40 to 50K. Perhaps I did miss one final intense and long training (200K+), but on the other hand, I really needed the rest...

Anyway, the fact is that I seem to perform better on Ardennes roads than in the high French cols. 73rd Vélomediane 2009, 40th GF Ardennaise 2011, if I look up rider's results in that range, most of them already have a top100 finish on their "palmares". Ok, I did have some bad luck, but I got dropped on the Ballon d'Alsace, and that's where I REALLY lost my top 100. Or is it just the fact that I need (a couple of) years to grow stronger? Here's the raw data:

GF Ardennaise: 40th overall, 30th in the C category (18-35)
Les 3 ballons: 119th overall,  29th in the C category (18-29)

Could it be that on average,  30+ riders are better suited for the kind of challenge that the 3 Ballons is?... I certainly hope so;-). Nice stuff to discuss amongst cycling friends! Curious to hear their opinions. And at the same time, a motivation to keep on training and keep on coming back to Les 3 Ballons!

In the meantime, I'm slowly but surely getting ready for La Morzine. Getting ready = trying to recover from the terrible back pain I started suffering from yesterday (not a good idea to race in De Pinte, but what could I do), and rest. The plan was to just go on tomorrow's ride on the Schelde riverside, but that wouldn't be a good idea with this back. So it'll be all about riding the acid away on the rollers, and being as "Fresh" as possible at the start in Morzine at 7 am (I will have been in the car for 10 hours at least the day before, not perfect either). BUT!!!!!: All of these little downsides will be largely compensated by my girlfriend Delphine, who will be with me on the race and cheer/give bottles. What better motivation could I possibly wish for?! That same night, we set course to Nice and spend 6 nights at the Côte d'Azur....

Bye for now! I'll put a post on the blog on La Morzine from Nice!