Sportive time!

After having felt tired and not 100% rested 2 week's ago, I took a rather drastic decision: 1 week off the bike! I had been enjoying life off the bike a bit too much recently (absolute highlight was Roel's wedding (& preceding bachelor party), see below), all great, but not so good if you have high ambitions in Cyclosportives. 

I want(ed) to avoid the 2010 scenario, where I must admit that I didn't feel 100% rested in either of the sportives I participated in (except for the first one: GF Ardennaise).

Hence the drastic measure to not do anything for a week. Of course, that proved to be impossible for me, but I was able to limit myself to 45 minutes training on the rollers. The Saturday after that, I rode the "La Chouffe Classic", with the idea to test myself on some occasions, but not to finish completely wasted (I'll keep that for the weekends in June;-)).

Appearently, I did a good job in listening to my body, because the la Chouffe classic went quite well. I had a good ride up the Col d'Haussire (famous from the Vélomédiane Claude Criquielion): 68th, as fast as on my best Vélomédiane result in 2009 , and proved to be the 2nd best rider from our group of 15-20 with which we (Pieter G and me) rode most part of the route. There were only 4 of us doing their work at the front (strong headwind!), and I was able to escape from the group with another rider on a hill. With what's to come in mind, I decided to take it easy as of the last stop.

Last week then, the weather was absolutely great for the long weekend. I rode everyday since Wednesday, but took it very easy on Saturday, in order to be well rested for the GF Ardennaise on Sunday (first of my 4 June Sportives: GF Ardennaise, Les 3 ballons, La Morzine & La Vaujany).

I didn't expect to see many participants, because the weather forecast was horrible: heavy showers and thunder. However, I didn't feel a single drop of rain during the entire race!

Just like last year, directly after the start the nervous lead-up to the first big shifting climb ("Les Chambralles") took place. Just like last year, this nervous start was interrupted by a train passing. On the Chambralles, I had a good feeling. When over the top, I found myself suffering, but still in the last riders of the very first group. However, on the climb directly after that, I felt I had to let the "Elites" go, and tried to find a rhythm of my own. That happened quite naturally on the top of the Niaster, and with a group of around 20 we rode up the Côte de Xhierfomont, followed by the Ancienne Barriere (where I skipped the first food stop). I had a good feeling on the longer climbs, and was able to slide along quite easily when a small gap had to be closed on the Ancienne Barriere. The Stockeu would be the next potential breaking point. I tried to tackle it as one of the first, and since it's an area I know wery well (dangerous Wanne-descent, then some small uphill sections, and then the sharp right directly up the steep Stockeu-slopes), I started in 4th position. If I remember correctly, I believe 2 or 3 riders escaped (don't quite know whether we caught up with them later on or not), but I was able to make it over the top amongst the best. A supporter by the side of the road (as usual, many of my co-riders had their own private food & drink stops), told us that "the rider in 40th position had just passed". I got a double feeling when I heard this, since doing better than last year (52nd), meant more or less I had to beat everyone in the group I was in, and certainly not fall back. On the other hand, I had the feeling I was riding in a (slightly) better position than last year.

In Ferrieres, after 117 kilometers, there was a final foodstop, and I was forced to stop because I was completely out of water. Most of the riders stopped, but I got back on my bike as one of the last. The group was down to around 10 riders, but I never really got back in touch with them. There's a hard climb directly after the stop, but I didn't have the power anymore to close the gap, even though they were quite close for some kilometers. I ended up with 3 other riders that had the "stopping, not being able to get back on after the stop" story in common with me. We tackled the final 40K, and tried to work well together. After 125-130K, I started suffering from cramps, and had to skip a few turns, but I did what I could without jeopardizing my final result by having to let go should one of my co-escapees launch an attack. But that didn't happen. On the contrary, once I had overcome my cramps, I had the feeling I just might be the strongest of the group. I repeatedly looked back to see whether a group from the back might catch up on us, but everything looked ok, and we could ride to the finish quite "relaxed". We caught up with one more rider, and he did the entire final descent back into Hamoir. I was going to let him take the first place in our group of 5, but they started sprinting from behind (I was in second position), and so I participated in the sprint and finished second from our group. A very nice top40 finish (exactly 40th) was my reward, and with an average speed of 32km/h I can only be very happy with the result.

So, everything seems to be falling into place just in time for Les 3 ballons. The goal is to go all out, and do better than my 2 135st rankings in 2009 & 2010. The dream is a top 100 finish...