January 2012
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As a racer, one’s relationship with cycling falls into a continuous rhythm of love and hate.
There are times when the sport seems nothing more than a bleak pursuit, a foolish game, that drags one out to pedal endlessly on empty roads. The pain is acute and the bike uncomfortable as each hour drags on in an exhausting effort for nought.
Other days, the kilometres fly by and one feels sound...
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December 2011
4 posts
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If you can’t ride outside this winter, train on the rollers. Every minute will make you a better cyclist.
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November 2011
7 posts
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The Last Post
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At the height of the cycling season my bike feels like an extension of my body; everything is fluid and symmetrical and in sync. Mindlessly, I dodge through corners; going where I will without thought. I am completely relaxed on the bike; even at full exertion.
Now, as I begin training again after a lengthy rest, this is no longer the case. I feel awkward and stretched out as I ride. Pedalling...
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October 2011
6 posts
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Suzanna did the 8km race in the Amsterdam Marathon Weekend and ran pretty darn fast!
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Last night in Amsterdam.
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September 2011
12 posts
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Bike racing is bad for you; my season ended a week and a half ago and my body is still in tatters. As a racer you always want to push harder but this time I seem to have gone too far. My immune system is ravaged; I’ve been to the hospital more in the last week than I have in many years combined. I’ve picked up a series of viruses and they have been manifesting themselves in scary ways....
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So my cycling is over for 2011; I raced on Saturday but was fighting a losing battle. I tried to force things and ride aggressively but just didn’t have anything in the tank to make it happen. My race was over after 130km when I was split off the back in the cross-winds.
The last weeks of my season were a disappointment. I had picked up an infection that my system was fighting and left me...
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I’m coming into my last races of the season; Saturday is the Groeistad Klassiker in Amersfoort then Baronie-Breda is on Sunday. Last weekend was an unexplained debacle but I’ve looked after myself well and hopefully I can get a last turn of form and go out on a better note.
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Yesterday I raced the Wingene Koers in Belgium. It was very windy out and the race was extremely nervous. In Holland, a race would break quickly in such conditions; riders would recognize the advantage of working together and ride flat out to splinter the field. In Belgium, that co-operation doesn’t exist; attacks fly willy-nilly at the front and no one works together until a sure gap is...
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Yesterday I competed in the Danny Jonckheere Memorial in Belgie. The race was run over a flat 13km circuit that was very fast. I was aggressive early, knowing a group would go away near the start and have a very good chance of staying ahead at the finish. After a couple of laps I ran into some more shit luck as my rear tire developed a slow leak and started going flatter and flatter (in case you...
August 2011
9 posts
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I went into the Ronde van Midden Nederland with a plan and I executed it well. It was not quite the right read on the race though, I was agressive and made all the right selections between Amerongen and Rhenen thinking that would be where the race would be made, it certainly was the hardest section of the race but it came back together on the dyke back to Utrecht. A group of twenty got away inside...
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Ronde van Midden Nederland tomorrow.. stoked
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This past weekend I raced in the Ronde van Antwerpen, a stage race in Belgium featuring many of the top teams in the country. I was a bit unsure of my form going in; I had trained well but been away from the races for a bit and had a pretty busy time in the last week getting our apartment in order.
The first stage I was perhaps missing a bit of snap but was up involved in the action and riding...
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July 2011
14 posts
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Some days you just have to suffer. Out training today, it was as if I was riding in a giant, cold shower with freezing water and mud soaking into every one of my pores. I’m not going to lie; it was pretty miserable. Then again, there was satisfaction in the work. In recent weeks, my time on the bike between races has been quite relaxed as I focused on entering competition in a fresh state....
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Yesterday I raced the Omloop Schin op Geul in Limburg. This time the hills were not really anything to write home about but it was windy as all hell. In the neutral section I had a problem with my wheel and had to stop to change it out. I went from the front of the peloton to the back and was way too far arrears when the flag dropped. From there it was lined out, full blast on the tight little...
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