Race Report 5 Bambrugge

Race Report 5 Bambrugge
7/24/09
90k

47 start
37 to finish

Early morning ride to the train station to go to Gent where Sean and i will spend the weekend in a kick ass 4 star Marriott Hotel right along the canal in the heart of Gent! Love you Price line for taking our cheap bid! We check in around noon drop our heavy backpacks and walk around for a bit grab coffee and lunch and head back to the hotel to get dressed and ride 20+ k to Bambrugge for a 6pm start time.

One of the smaller fields out here but that dose not change much. Getting ready to warm up when it starts to pour rain, and i mean down pour luckily we got to hide in a van until it passed. Wet and cold we are on the start line and have a short delay im fiddling with my rear break and notice every time i pull on the lever the break sticks and stays closed.. Oh hell not enough time to fix it not sure how to fix it at this point, i open the break all the way to see if this helps, pull on the lever and nope still sticks closed on the rim. Shit shit shit. I pull on the cable under the top tube and this helps it to open back up a bit. Hell this is going to suck i will try to lay off the back break as much as possible.

We are off and im in the front with one other girl keeping the speed up we have it single file down a long flat stretch in to the head wind. A fast right in to a long hill not supper steep but long enough that it can take a bit out of the legs we are still in the front taking turns keeping up the tempo, i want to be up here so i can see the course for the first time from the front, and i feel good for the most part. The hill levels out in to more flat a few swooping fast turns a sharp right hand turn in to a fast steep kicker a right and more long fast flat sections that soon leads us in to the country roads and a short patch of cobble then some slight rolling to a right hand turn in to a down hill stretch of rough cobbles, it is fast hard and rough along this section with a massive acceleration on to the smooth pavement that winds back in to town with lots of turns and swooping curves that takes us through a carnival and another sharp right hand turn over brick in to the long finishing stretch.

I spend most of the race going with attacks attacking a few times my self and staying near the front. A break goes near the last few laps of the race and i glue my self to the front trying to bring it back no one wants to work, im still felling strong so pull for about half a lap rotate back and let others work then attack, oh sure now others want to work, still positioned near the front with one to go, in good position but moving back as girls are coming up the right side i am in the left hand gutter so not one can come around we have about three more turns before the finishing stretch and i have three girls in front of me and i know the road is ride enough that when it gets strung out i will have whees to surf before i jump and sprint, im feeling confident and good still, we are closing in two turns to go still in position, approaching the second to last turn, out of the corner of my eye i see a girl coming up on my left on the side walk, we are starting to make the left hand turn through the carnival and she comes off the side walk right in to me, i manage to keep it upright but louse position and speed im trying to catch back on to the train but am now way to far back coming in to the finishing stretch i sprint and make it past a hand full of girls but come in 23rd. I am so frustrated, i road a smart race, felt strong and confident, i want a do over.

Lesson # 5 Be aggressive B E aggressive. Fight for that wheel even if you have a bully trying to knock you down.

Warm close on and we ride back in to town just before the sun goes down. Shower get dressed and head out in to the crazy Gent festival packed streets to find dinner yes pasta in a cup!!! A stroll back along the canal a hot waffle and an amazing nights sleep!