Belgian "Rain"

So we are in the middle of Belgian "Rain" for the past few days. It has been clear sky's and over 33 degree for a few days now and a possibly will hit 37 today (that's all in Celsius, trust me, fricken hot!) Yeah, Belgian Rain is sunshine and Belgian Sunshine is rain. Its funny if you are here... Maybe. Anyway, due to the extreme heat and some consultation with Dr. Dag, Bernard kindly called off our races the past to days and told us to stay inside. So he's pretty much forcing us to watch the Tour. Not so bad... We have all been out riding our bikes in the morning before it really gets hot out.

Well then. Two days ago my roommate's parents came to visit and they invited me to Gent to go hang out and walk around. So Jason and I headed to Gent. It is a pretty awesome city. Gent Fest was going on when we got there. It is a week long festival, I think mainly to celebrate beer, but I could be wrong. There were zillions of beer tents set up everywhere and people were walking around with drinking and having a great time. We were there in the middle of the day so it wasn't too crowded but as we were leaving more people were coming. In the center of town there is a castle that has been newly renovated and still partially under construction. It was awesome. A castle just sitting there in the middle of the city. I think it was form 1100 or so, so pretty old. From the top of the castle you could look out and see forever. The coolest part was being about to see all of the HUGE churches surrounding it. We ate at a little Italian place on one of the main streets. Had good pizza and the usual arrogant jerk waiters. This one wasn't so bad but you can just tell, ya know?

As for racing, my last race did not go so well for me or anyone there really. It was extremely windy. I think 6 guys finished the race and most everyone else was out of the race by just after the half way point. The wind was a huge factor and I realized I don't really know how to draft. The Belgians can do it in their sleep. While Jason and I were riding we saw school kids rockin' the rotating paceline. This is something some guys I race with in the US can't figure out how to do but 5 kids under 12 can do it on the way to the park or wherever. Belgium is awesome! I was supposed to race today, but the heat stopped that. But, I will be racing Saturday, supposed to be much cooler. I'm going to race hard and see what happens.

The tour is on. The first 45km of the race today are ALL UP.... damn!!!



When ya gotta go...




Our new team kits.... should be helpful in a crash.

Alvin