Belgium Adventure 2014-15: First Days

Between arrival in Amsterdam and my first race on December 26, we had three days to settle in and prepare. We enjoyed the opportunity to see a Christmas Market and a community market, ride a bit, and go for walks.

What follows a glimpse into my day-to-day training and racing in Belgium.

Eating can be a little challenging in Belgium

Some of the food is much better than ours: fresh hearty grainy bread, muesli, yogurt, eggs, potatoes, meat, and Brussels sprouts (so inexpensive here!). The yogurt and muesli cost quite a bit less than in the U.S., and are a staple for me. Also, milk and eggs are not refrigerated prior to opening. The eggs come with an occasional feather attached and their yolks are closer to orange in color. I have also learned that "a barn egg" is essentially free range (and less expensive than the commercially raised eggs).

Really, there are few downsides. No steel cut oats--gasp! Otherwise, it's merely a matter of different brands and flavors (the peanut butter is not bad, but different). The granola (or "crunchy muesli") is pretty blah. For those of us who are compulsive label readers (me), it's time to rid oneself of that habit. I am pretty certain that the peanut butter I bought does not have sugar added, but I would not bet my life on it! Most of the labels are in three languages (Flemish, French, and German), not a one of which I can read!

It goes without saying that they have chocolate, pastries, and frites (french fries) dialed. Flemish stew (just meat and gravy--no vegetables) is pretty good too.

However, eating as an athlete outside of her own country is all about being adaptive. As my coaches at The Fix Studio advise, you eat what there is to eat. With 5 races in 10 days, there isn't room for being picky. Last year, I ended the trip with a day in Brussels, wherein I demolished a breakfast buffet. I had no idea I was running a caloric deficit, until I was STARVED. At home, I am anything but flexible when it comes to food. Here, I have an excuse to let down my normal restraints, and it's kind of fun!

The challenges of eating in new place are a great equalizer. Every American over here (at least for the first couple of trips) struggles in the new environment. I've noticed that fast riders who usually seem poised in the states can look a little shell-shocked here. Part of racing well in Belgium comes down to being less bowled over by the experience. This is an instance where not being vegetarian, vegan, paleo, or gluten-free makes life easier.

My bikes

I race on a matched set of Focus Mares with a SRAM Force CX1 drivetrain. I'm grateful to Focus for the support they have provided our team, PowerFix Elite CX. The bikes are fast, nimble, and bomb-proof (I raced a Mares all summer at the Buck Hill MTB series with no ill-consequences to the frame).

The CX1 was a mid-season switch that was 100% the right decision! For those of you who are unfamiliar, it's is an 11-speed single-ring set up. I've always wanted to run a single in front, but road derailleurs did not offer enough range. At some point in the race, you were always under or over-geared. With an 11-36 cassette in back, I have as much range as I had on my double ring set-up. The CX1 has a clutch derailleur, which makes the chain very tight. It's a bit more work to get the wheel on, but there's no chain slap, and I have not yet dropped a chain! Eliminating the second ring and front derailleur makes the bike lighter and eliminates the chain-drop risk associated with switching from ring to ring.

First Race

The first race we did was a small-town race in the city of Beernem. The World Cup was going on at the same time in Zolder, but I'm not qualified to race that, so Beernem was the option. My PowerFix CX teammate Jen Nowlin is over here on a family vacation and is joining me in my first two races. It's a blast to have a friend around and have PowerFix team representation in Belgium!

The mechanic situation is everything I could have hoped for and more. On the day before, Gregory, made some adjustments on my bikes, got them squeaky clean, and lubed them, so that everything was running great. At the race, we had two mechanics, a professional bike cleaning set-up, and a nice warm van to change and sit in. After a muddy pre-ride, they got our bikes fresh-from-the-bike shop clean and staged them on the trainers for warm-up. Denis, one of the mechanics, accompanied us to the start to take jackets, and though I understood most of the Flemish at the start, it was reassuring to have someone around that could interpret if needed!

My coach Larry and I intended for Beernem for be an "opener" for the upcoming high level races, and that it was. After 4 days of easy riding, and a 7-timezone shift, even openers the day before and a good warm-up couldn't save me. My legs felt awful! Conditions were slightly muddy and there was a series of unforgiving riverside drops and climbs. I did not have my A-game on. Riding well on a course such as Beernam requires precision and finesse, not just power. The first couple of laps were a series of miscues: overcooking it and popping out of ruts, riding where I should have run..... Tiny mistakes repeated often add up to a lot of time, and take away the gains made by suffering on the straightaways!

I was second, which of course, numerically speaking, was great. However, it's important to evaluate the race holistically and it wasn't a great one! The race served its purpose: it opened out my systems for the bigger races starting on Sunday, and got me dialed back into how I need to ride to be successful on the more technical Belgium courses.

We had a couple of mechanicals on the day. Jen rolled a tubular and broke a shifter. Despite this, she still got to the finish line on the lead lap. I had a rear flat, but it was immediately prior to the pit, so it did not impact my race. We are grateful to have Gregory around not only for support, but to recover us from these mishaps.

Speaking the Language

Flemish is the dialect of Dutch spoken in Belgium. It differs from the Dutch of the Netherlands in some pronunciations as well as some words borrowed from French. I prepared for this trip using Pimsleur's Dutch CDs in the car on the way to and from work. Of course, the amount of Dutch picked up from a small stack of CDs is not going to get you very far, but being able to understand just a little bit is reassuring.

In Beernem, I also managed to land on my hand warming up, and it's a bit sprained. After the race, I went into a bar, asked if they had ice, thanked them, and asked how much I owed, all in Dutch! Success.

Next Up

Next up is a UCI C1 race in the city of Diegem on Sunday. The C1 is the highest level of UCI racing outside of the World Cup. Marianne Vos, Sanne Cant, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, Ellen Van Loy, and Katarina Nash are all racing. The forecast is for a little bit of snow, cold temperatures, and wind--my kind of happy place!

About the author... Corey Coogan Cisek has been competing in one sport or another for all her life, first alpine skiing, then Nordic, and now bike racing. She balances full-time work as a Project Manager with traveling the country on weekends to race USA Cycling Pro Cyclocross calendar events. Cisek is coached by The Fix Studio in Minneapolis and rides for PowerFix Elite CX Team.