I’ve been on the otherside of the pond, in Belgium, for the about a week now, but the weather isn’t living up to it’s  reputation.   We had some cloudy skies during the first few days, but the last few days have been warm and sunny.  We took advantage the weather and the BBQ, enjoying steaks, pork tenderloin and veggies outside, washed down by some tasty Belgian beer.

Oh yah, we raced too.  On Sunday we raced in Leuven, near Brussels, in the rain, with jet lag.  Sergei had a great day, finishing third, but rest of us had a hard time and pulled out.  Today we raced Memorial Rik van Steenberger.  About 100km into the race there was a split of about 40 guys that quickly went out to 2:30 and I was the only Navigator there, so the other guys had to chase.  Not only did they bring it back… they destroyed the field in the process and only about 30 riders were able to hang on.  After my group was caught another group of thirty went away with Hilton and I, the initial split being caused by Nick Nuyens pulling at 60km/h for a full kilometer.  I rode aggressively in the hopes of getting away with a few riders, but it came down to a bunch sprint, so I led Hilton out.  He finished sixth saying that he had the perfect lead out but didn’t have the legs.  I wish I could finish sixth in a sprint against guys like Hondo and McEwen and say I had bad legs.  In the end I finished 28th about 10 seconds behind the group.  I the last kilometer, I held over 50km/h the whole time but had no chance of getting onto the back of the group.  Those dudes have some power!

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