Racing

Hi just a wee update on what I've been up to..

I had a top competition UCI 1.2 yesterday the IWT Otengin which went up some of the famous climbs of the tour of Flanders and also along some of the course. Was a hard day out with high temperatures, wind, and lots of cobbles. Made it too the finishing circuits then ran out of steam with 30km to go. Felt good but probably should've eaten and drank a bit more as it was caught up to me in the heat. The week before that I had another 1.2 Fleche ardenaais. Really full on race with over 3000 vertical meters of climbing over the famous Liege Bastogne Liege climbs. Didn't really suite me but it was a good experience. Also pretty cool how Fellow kiwi and friend Jeremy Yates was a past winner. Tough guy! After Fleche Ardenaais I had an Interclub in Belsele. This is just with the Amateur teams. I was feeling strong all day and after not covering the only break I didn't go with I finished 18th. Lesson learnt but that is racing. It was a miserable day out with thunder storms and constant rain. The performance was a lot better then the result however it would've been nice to break at least a top 10.

On Saturday I have another UCI 1.2 the Omloop het neiwsblad. 180km with 18 'difficulties', being cobbles or climbs. Looking forward to it..

Have been training pretty hard so not hitting these races too fresh but still getting amongst it.

Time Trial bike from NZ arrived! which I am very happy about! Took it out for a spin today and already feel good on it. So will be campaigning to get a worlds TT spot over the coming few months.

Have a pretty tough and busy race calender coming up with the Omloop het neiwsblad on Saturday followed by an interclub on Monday then the Tour of Liege early July followed by the Tour of Vlaams Brabant that also has a time trial as one of the stages so I will be targeting that..

These UCI 1.2 races are pretty full gas and it's good to race the top amateur riders in Belgium along with some of the Pro teams. Learning a lot and becoming a better and smarter bike rider after everyone.

So now I am just training and racing and recovering. Standard lifestyle for a cyclist. Hanging out for summer in Belg and catching up with kiwi friends who are over here in there Olympic build up. Still haven't cracked mentally after being here for almost 5 and a half months :-)

Have become pretty domesticated around the house also, laundry, dishes cooking and fending for myself. Also managing to keep the room tidy, tough life.. ha ha

will put some pictures up sometime soon
Cheers
Fraser

Belgian Blues

Hi It's been a while since my last update and since then I have had a few ups and downs. I had a top competion 1.2 one day race which was 180km then the next week a 3 day tour down in the Ardennes called tryptique ardennais. I had terrible legs for the 1.2 so just battled in the bunch. The next weekend was a tough stage race down in the Ardennes with hard fast climbs and brutal stages. I went into this tour with the hopes just to finish as I had been pretty flat leading up to it. However I started to feel better as it went on so I was happy. Even tho I was still chewing my handlebars at the back of the bunch!
It was also good to be racing with lots of other kiwis down there. 10 of us in total with 6 being part of the national team including my cousin Wes, which made the race more enjoyable seeing all those guys again. It was also won by a kiwi Tom David which was awesome!

After the tour I rode easy for a few days then got hit with the flu again! I think it was from the first stage of tryptique where it was raining and cold. Guttered... I tried to heal myself but it just lingered for a week so I went off to the doctors for some meds. Had about 10 days off but it was a good chance to freshen up and recover before the second part of the season.

So I got back into racing last weekend with a kermesse about 20km away in Ramsel. It was a bit of a mission and 5 mins before the start I saw my tyre had lost some air so I had a slow leak and 2 bottles to get me through 120km on a 32 degree day.. Recipe for disaster and it was. Was feeling fit until I started getting a headache from no water. Pro's and con's.. haha. Oh well this week is a new week and with some carbon race wheels finally on there way to Belgium I'm gunning for some results in the next few months so will be going full gas..

Madness

Another roller coaster, cool set thing

Haven't been up to much else. Had 2 days away at Euro Disney in Paris with the host family which was fun.  I have never been a roller coaster guy until now.. hooked.

(Just to prove I'm alive)Poker face before aerosmith roller coaster.. Not even nervous..

Cheers for reading
Fraser

Racing- Spain, France, Holland

So it has been a busy few weeks with a couple of u23 Nations cups with the national team and a 3 day tour in Spain with my Belgian team Rock Werchter. First up was the Cote de Picardie in the North west corner of France. It was an awesome race with cross winds and rain which made for a dirty and cold day out. It was going good and I was hanging near the front making the splits and staying out of trouble then when we hit the finishing circuit I ran out of legs which was race over. The next Nations cup was the ZLM tour in Holland. It was a one day 190km race which was once again windy and this time completely flat. I got the late call up the night before so I wasn't really prepared as well as I could've been but learnt a hard lesson in bunch positioning as I got tailed off in the cross wind when someone dropped the wheel and had to fight hard to rejoin the bunch only 100km's in. Then again with 30km to go, tough day out! All great experiences and I learnt a lot more about bike racing coming up against some of the best u23's in the world. Was a good motivation booster..

Hotel in Benicassim Spain

Next up I was off to Spain With My Belgian team Rock Werchter. The 17hr drive to Spain from Belgium was ample character building time and I managed to remain sane for the whole journey which was lucky.. Couldn't wait for the return journey just 5 days later! As Heney would say-''Mental strength''

Spanish Coast

We stayed In Benicassim on the same street as we were based for the team training camp back in February. This time however the weather was 25 degrees! Which was a very nice changed from the same old overcast Belgium. The Volta Castello was a 3 day tour with stages between 130-150km with lots of hills. It was handy that we rode the majority of the roads during the training camp so we all knew what to expect. My team mate Yannick got into the early move on the first stage and managed to get the leading u23 jersey. With the rest of the guys some minutes down we focussed on protecting Yannick for the u23 leader. We worked really well as a team and managed to secure it for him. It wasn't the ideal tour for me with all the cat 1 climbs and super fast Spanish climbers in the mix which made it very hard to hold on going up these hills!

nice views over Benicassim

Pre-Volta Castellon spin

It was a good few days away with some hard racing and good weather. Finally feeling comfortable on the bike and my legs came out better then when the tour began so I'm happy and now motivated to finally get things going. Just returned from Pepinster where I had 3 days in the hills and got some good miles in.. took a few pics..

The highest point in belgium, 694m

Cote de Stockeu/Stele Eddy Merckx

Next up is a Top Competition UCI 1.2 race on Tuesday. Looking forward to it!


Fraser

Salt and Pepinster...

(Catchy title from the lyrical genius himself R. McLeod)

Well these last few days I have been down in wee Pepinster in the French speaking part of Belgium. I'm down here catching up and training with fellow kiwi Ruaraidh McLeod (Pronounced Rory), Really funny guy who lives in a loft up a three story building 20m from the train tracks I arrived on. So Serene but the earplugs are a must at night.. Have done a few good days on the bike with a fair bit of climbing as where I normally live in Belgium i'd be lucky too climb 50m in a ride, today we did 5hrs and 2500m of climbing. So this is going to be my new fortnightly trip to get some good training in as the flat isn't great all the time..

So antics galore down here with loitering in the local GB Super mache and wild times spinning stories in the loft. We are both very excited for when the Harlem Globetrotters come to Pepinster for a one off performance in April. So I will be back to pep's for that!

Just a few average photos I took when I was riding along. Didn't get the most scenic pics as I was either riding up a hill or riding down one. But you get the picture.

Fraser

Aaaah the Serenity

Serene Bridge

Renowned free sample sampler- Ruaraidh McLeod

Hills in Belgium

Token

Serene

Spa Serenity

Buildings Spa

Riding through Spa

Sickness

After racing a Kermesse in the rain last Sunday I got the flu quite bad with temperatures and sleepless nights. It forced me off the bike for a week which was quite annoying as I was slowly started to find my feet and get into shape. But I believe everything happens for a reason so I wasn't over stressed. During the week I went and got a bike fit and turned out my saddle has been a little bit low... So that's why I have been feeling terrible on the bike! So things are looking up from here, I have started training again just taking it easy until I fully recover...

Haven't really been up to much other then that as I have been bedridden all week. At least it is starting to feel like summer here in Belgium with blue skies (today) and the temperature is suppose to reach 19 degrees!

Will update when I am back racing

FG

Just a quick wee update..

First race last Sunday wasn't pretty as I had been experimenting with my position on the bike and it didn't work at all that day.. just rolled home in the main bunch.

http://www.devlaamsepijl.be/content/welkom/welkom.php This is the race this Saturday. Pretty big one that goes up some of the famous climbs of races like tour of Flanders and E3 Harelbeke. Going to be a tough day in the saddle but looking forward to it. Feeling a lot better on the bike this week then I did last week so that's a good start.

Have been shown a great coffee shop La Bas in Diest which is about 30km away.. so it is ideal for a mid ride fuel up with a coffee and a slice of one their amazing cakes.

La Bas.. So Good

That's about all I have been up to lately have done some solid training these last couple of days and the form is on the rise. I have a new game where I ride in a direction for 2hrs then when I am in the middle of nowhere I turn my phone gps on and find home! yea... I need some friends.

Will update after Saturday

Fraser

Team training camp Benicassim

 So I have been busy these last couple of weeks with settling in to my new home in Olen Belgium and training down in Benicassim Spain with my team on training camp. The team is really good, a great group of guys and staff that like a bit of fun. The training in Spain was so good, fast roads and long climbs. We did about 900km for the week and rode some sweet roads up in to the mountains. I was rooming with the closest look a like to Ben Stiller aka Derek Zoolander I have ever come across, Stijn Bruyndonckx. Very nice lad who speaks great English so we joked all week long. I also turned 19 when in Spain and was treated to a nice 200km ride in the sunshine and mountains as a present.. Had a good day :)

looking out my window in Olen

The top of climb we did

 It was also good to get away from the cold weather for a few days as it has been -6 to -10 some days here in Belgium and it was a tropical 15 degrees in Spain.

So serene....

My first race is on the 26th of February, Brussels-Opwijk. Should be good as I am feeling fit at the moment and hanging out to race! But before then I have another team training ride next Sunday followed by the team presentation on the Monday.

Rock Werchter team with team bike

It's good having my team mate Jeff living 5km away in Herentals, I will be able to train and hang out with him so I don't get completely crazy and lost..

Jeff yeah boooy

Will update after my first race, hopefully some good news..

Peace 

Fraser