I want to ride my (etc.)

This will be short, as there are a few milliseconds to spare between doing the Sunday night results spree. Huzzah.

Big weekend, riding the Endorfin Speed III with Lightweight Wheels (phwoar) for the eerste keer. It still needs a bit of adjustment, but I'm getting there. It's great for hills and riding in a straight line, but it handles like a Volvo compared to the very twitchy Canyon. The deep dish wheels don't help, of course.

Saturday: eight of us after the Molenberg, then another eight caught on over the top so we ended up with two bunches. We did have some horsepower in front with Sammy Moreels, Tom Vlerick, Nico Mestdagh, Jaak Eeckhout (John Saey 'crosser), Alain Deroux(?) (amateur in Palmans gear), and a few more. Guido was there right at the end, nursing a hangover. So it was nice coming back into the headwind with a bit of grunt. Led out the sprint together with Tom Vlerick and got second. No surprises there.

Sunday: Berchem (yawn, never get enough sleep). The Kid wasn't there, neither was Guido, but most of the rest were. The Quick.Step dude was now wearing a T-Mobile/US National team jersey, and didn't seem to be arguing with the older guy form Onder Ons Parike. Coming down into Tournai, Snelle Eddy, Guy Callens, Mr Onder Ons Parike, and a mustachioed dude who never works, did a stupid thing and attacked around a truck on a roundabout. Really stupid. It's a frickin' training ride! I erred on the side of caution (as I always do) and let them go. It was doubly bad because I only had the Quick.Step/T-Mobile guy to work with, as the rest of the bunch were not really interested.

The two of us rode hardish up the false flat from Tournai and caught them before the top. Only one other guy came with us though (small MTB dude)! So then there were seven of us.

No more attacks until after Frasnes-lez-Anvaing, where Eddy and small MTB dude rolled off the front as I was down the back. No-one really attacks on this ride, it's just that people let gaps go. It's frustrating, because it's actually quite easy to hold a wheel on the flat. So we let them go out to 30 seconds as none of the other four really wanted to work. I couldn't be arsed putting in a big chase, as I was pretty sure I could get them back whenever, preferably with a little help.

A little help is all I got as I went a bit harder on the hill through the bos. I eased up and signaled for Guy Callens to come through, as he was the only one who stayed with me, but then I saw the look on his face and decided I'd better continue. That bike really is nice to climb on. Over the top it was only 10 seconds and we closed it down steadily without blowing ourselves up. So then there were four.

I actually felt bad about attacking the other week so on the Chapelle, I just rode hard enough so that at the top, we were three (Eddy and Guy hung on). I think Eddy was a bit afraid I'd go on the Hotonde, but I didn't see the point. In fact, I didn't even want to sprint at the end (I'm like that) until Eddy jumped with 150m to go and put a couple of bike lengths into me. Can't have that, I thought. I went after him and still thought it was pointless, until I put it down two gears and suddenly found myself going a lot faster. Eddy made the mistake of looking around as the road went up a bit just before the imaginary line at the cafe. Then he swore :-)

Rode home via a coke machine and really needed it, as it was a bloody headwind. The all-carbon saddle is nice!

Ob. music reference: Got two CDs last week, The Beekeeper (Tori Amos) and Waiting for the Siren's Call (New Order). Both bloody good! OK, music appreciation is in the ear of the beholder and all that, but if you're a fan of these artist(e)s, then get these.