The Henk Ballet classic will follow in the next edition of bilge. This is a random article of bilge to clear the head from national championships. All results, all the time.
I think the form is coming back, as somehow I managed to 'win' two training bunch sprints in a row. That is strange, as I am not fast, but these were slow sprints that started from a fair way out, so timing is more important than speed. Today we did the Trap Op in 4'51 (36km/h) with the lightest of tailwinds. "Der Goswin" was on the front for the first two thirds, and I took over for the top bit. Der Goswin even led me out in the sprint, and even though when I came off his wheel, it felt like I was riding through a swimming puel, no-one came past. He said it wasn't the intention to lead me out, but I thanked him anyway.
Berchem: Despite the promise of dry weather and 24 degrees, it rained all the way out and all the way back home, but stayed dry during the ride. No Guido or Guy Callens, but Eddy was back. It was mostly him and I doing the work, with Geert d'Hondt doing his share + one other guy. Seven left after Tournai. At Franses, we had to leg it through a go-kart race, and one guy even had a small crash trying to get through the tape. He was OK though.
I've decided that the best way to ride the hills is on the front, as you can go at your own tempo and keep at your threshold. If somebody is stronger than you, it won't really matter as they'll drop you in the end if they want, but at least you don't have to go into the red while following them. If somebody isn't as strong, then they will go into the red following you. So I did every hill on (or off) the front.
Eddy and I were left after Lahamaide, but we caught Versmessen over the top as he'd ridden off while we were waiting for the guy who crashed previously. I still felt OK by the time we got to the Kapelleke, and kept the speed high from the bottom, going a bit into the red by the top. But I looked back and I couldn't see Eddy or Versmessen, so I continued on my own. I think it's important to eat on these rides. But it goes without saying that I blew completely on the way back home, just before that vital vending machine emporium at Oudenaarde, where I also required a Mars bar to go with the Coke. Another wet 30 km home. Wish I'd brought arm warmers!
Danny, the air traffic controller, told me about his training program. It involves a lot of kilometres. 1150 last week and he's going for 1350 this week for a nice round 2500 in two weeks. Strewth. I think I'd be tired after that and wouldn't want to direct planes.
Funny supermarket moment of the week: A man bought a can of Pepsi and a Mars bar and paid for it with some huge denomination note, like 500 euros. OK, small things amuse me.
I seen The Omen this week. I didn't see the original 1976 version, which was probably better, but this one had moments. Damien was a bit too cute to be the Antichrist, so his casting lacked a bit of verisimilitude. The various death scenes were fairly well done. Funny thing was, the next day after I saw it, I went for a ride in my red jersey that I have never worn, ever. I give 4 out of 6.66 stars.
Just like Dick Whittington, I'll be off to Londres again next week, although just for a day. It'll be good to see Lucy and Pete again, albeit for a short time only. Book now and save. But wait, there's more!
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
JMT
Last week marked my first trip in '06 to see the Old Bill, as well as the Young Lucy and Pete and others. The weather has been good enough and on the weekend, I'd managed to get out for a few late drinks in the great outdoors of Gent with the Reinmeester and the ice cream man, who works in Reinhard's street. We had a couple of free tickets for cocktails, but I found that Tequila, even when mixed with other stuff, still brought back memories. We did not overdo it.
Monday morning, Gent time, saw a 6am start in time to catch Ye Olde Eurostar from Brussel-Zuid. It's more expensive, but more betterer than flying to Heathrow and tubing it back into town. Lucy and Pete live on a dock in the southeast part of London, and after a bit of messing about (Lucy had supplied me with a map of England to find it) I even located their flat. It's a nice little spot, even if the nearby suburbs are a bit of a black hole.
Amazingly, this is London (chez Lucy 'n Pete).
© Jeff Jones
Skirting around the heavenly sound of an out of control brass band, we strolled into the Painted Hall, where Lord Nelson lay for three days after his backbone had shot through and he'd been kissed by Hardy. My knowledge of history is approximately equivalent to the skill level of the euphonium players we had just passed. The hall is impressive, even if it was basically only built for the navy to have dinner in. All the columns and ornaments are painted onto the flat walls, and there's a huge trompe l'oeil on the roof depicting Peace and Liberty and the defeat of those filthy French (Louis XIV I think). Every home needs one of these, I reckon.
Just across from the Painted Hall was a chapel, which is one of the most ornately decorated building interiors I've ever seen. Even surpassing my recently repainted flat, which has two shades of blue. It's got a shiny organ too.
The Cutty Sark in nearby Greenwich.
© Jeff Jones
Me trying to keep the cacophony of the nearby Trinity College of Music out of my head.
© Jeff Jones
The Painted Hall, where navy types had their dinner.
© Jeff Jones
Then it was time for some good ol' English hospitality in the form of a sandwich from the Regatta café. And a fine specimen of English cuisine it was too, with the bread aged in the fridge until the right degree of dryness was reached, and Lucy's espresso being sprayed all over the outside of the cup and saucer by an adept hand. You wouldn't get away with that in Belgium or Oz, but when it comes to food, the English do mediocrity down to a 'T'.
Now fortified, we wandered up to the observatory, which affords a fine view of London. There were plenty of schoolkids attempting to run up ahead of us, while complaining about having to lose weight. Lucy filled me in on the latest plans to improve hot school lunches, which have been too crap for too long. Kids shouldn't be enormous.
The observatory at Greenwich is also home of the Prime Meridian, which is where the world's longitude and time is measured from. Pretty cool, eh? So of course I set my watch to GMT + 1 (= Jeff's Mean Time?) and it came in very handy for keeping appointments. The octagon room in the observatory is cool too, and there's a telescope through which you can see Pluto. We checked out all the measuring instruments and learned about the first naval clocks and it was all very interesting. I even bought a stress ball (for my wrist) from the observatory shop. Been looking for one of those for ages. Then we saw a deer and a squirrel in the park while we heard that Japan had scored the first goal against Australia.
Standing on the Prime Meridian, with one foot in each hemisphere. Well, depending on your frame of reference.
© Jeff Jones
A varrah fierce squirrel!.
© Jeff Jones
Lucy's work friend Lesley was one of those reading, and she'd managed to round up a bit of an audience. It was the first time I've been to one of these, and it was a very informal affair. There were three poets and poetesses at first, but it grew to six by the end. Each would take turns reading their compositions. Most of it was surprisingly good, although there was one slightly serious woman who was all style and no substance, I thought. When she first launched into her poem the words "William McGonagall" flashed across my mind without warning, and I nearly cracked up. And it appeared that I wasn't the only one, as Lucy and Carolyn were trying to look at the ground too. Ooooooooohhhh dear.
I did enjoy most of the rest of the poems though, and there was a hilarious one read by someone called Simon right at the end that had us all going. It was based on a true story of an incongruous relationship that led to a bit of a disaster when he met the family. There was also a Danish ex-newsreader whose poem about her previous job was one I could very much relate too.
By this stage, Mandy had shown up with Dazza and a few of her friends, all celebrating because they had one a wad of cash on the Aussie-Japan match. Four of them had put five pounds each on Australia beating Japan 3-1...That was the result, so they wound up with 460 pounds! People should take Aussies seriously from time to time, especially when there is sport involved :-)
All in all, a good night and we didn't get too tanked on Staropramen.
Lesley prepares to read (she was good and we didn't laugh).
© Jeff Jones
Dazza (L) shows Mandy and friend how to make a hand occarina. The Aussies were on fire after beating Japan 3-1 and winning a lot of pounds sterling.
© Jeff Jones
We started with a coffee and a piece of Precambrian date loaf and lemon poppyseed cake from the museum café. I was relieved to find that that food standard between Greenwich and Kensington hadn't changed by even one degree. Staleness rules!
After a small Modernism gallery, we visited a vast hall full of silverware, then an even vaster hall full of sculpture repros. Trajan's column, Michelangelo's David, part of the facade of an old Spanish cathedral, and plenty of other religious stonework and artefacts dominated this huge hall. There must have been quite a bit of work in just reproducing all this stuff.
That was followed by corridors full of wrought iron from Germany and England, then a cool little musical instrument exhibition. Dad missed this when he was here last, but he'll definitely have to check it out. Plenty of old harpsichords, clavichords, harps, upright and forté pianos, bass viols - the full bit.
All that was only one floor of the V&A!
On a collision course for the Tower Bridge.
© Jeff Jones
A hall of silverwave. All mine!.
© Jeff Jones
Trajan's column in two bits in the modestly sized scuplture room. Every home needs one.
© Jeff Jones
The blue whale and mammal room was also worth a visit, and I learned a bit more about African and Asiatic elephants and gnus. We were somewhat knackered after that.
The evening was spent visiting cousin Polly and her kiddie Eva, who has come a long way since I seen her last in October. I don't know if she liked the fluffy velociraptor that Lucy gave her, but it'll grow on her, I'm sure. She delighted in creating buildings out of blocks and knocking them down again, and putting bread everywhere. She's pretty good at getting to bed though. We had a noice dinner and headed for home, courtesy of London's mini-cab system, which is about triple the price of a Sydney cab.
It was all over too fast. I need another week.
Hey boy, hey girl...it's a Diplodocus in the Natural History museum.
© Jeff Jones
About to be eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
© Jeff Jones
Eva and Polly (both cousins).
© Jeff Jones
Berchem report (I missed it, alas): Eddy cracked and Guido won. Well done!! But neither Eddy nor Guido were there last weekend, so it was just me and Guy Callens at the end. Also, a report from the "Henk Ballet Classic" will follow next week.
Flat-proud Lucy.
© Jeff Jones
The low-key organ in the chapel opposite the Painted Hall.
© Jeff Jones
A Harrier outside the maritime museum. These were the coolest planes.
© Jeff Jones
Spot the deer in this pic. I think it was eaten by the squirrel.
© Jeff Jones
Pete 'n Lucy in Highgate, in search of a pub.
© Jeff Jones
The Flask in Highgate. Noice.
© Jeff Jones
Where Essie had her wedding reception. Also noice.
© Jeff Jones
If you go through here, you get to Buck Hice(tm).
© Jeff Jones
The dirty but ornate exterior of the V & A.
© Jeff Jones
A spinet.
© Jeff Jones
Me and a Triceratops that I slew with my bare hands.
© Jeff Jones
Lucy teaches Eva about modern architecture and engineering.
© Jeff Jones
Preparing for a rather fine repast.
© Jeff Jones
Monday morning, Gent time, saw a 6am start in time to catch Ye Olde Eurostar from Brussel-Zuid. It's more expensive, but more betterer than flying to Heathrow and tubing it back into town. Lucy and Pete live on a dock in the southeast part of London, and after a bit of messing about (Lucy had supplied me with a map of England to find it) I even located their flat. It's a nice little spot, even if the nearby suburbs are a bit of a black hole.
Amazingly, this is London (chez Lucy 'n Pete).© Jeff Jones
What's the time?
After a bit of unwinding time, Lucy and I headed off to Greenwich, home of the Cutty Sark, Prime Meridian, observatory, maritime museum, park, and at least one deer. It's another one of these London oases that are quite surprising given the surroundings. The Cutty Sark is a decent sized tea clipper and looked interesting, but because we were too cheap to spend the five quid, we didn't go on deck. Instead, we walked up past the Trinity College of Music, where a band of wind and brass instruments were doing their best to clear the building of rats.Skirting around the heavenly sound of an out of control brass band, we strolled into the Painted Hall, where Lord Nelson lay for three days after his backbone had shot through and he'd been kissed by Hardy. My knowledge of history is approximately equivalent to the skill level of the euphonium players we had just passed. The hall is impressive, even if it was basically only built for the navy to have dinner in. All the columns and ornaments are painted onto the flat walls, and there's a huge trompe l'oeil on the roof depicting Peace and Liberty and the defeat of those filthy French (Louis XIV I think). Every home needs one of these, I reckon.
Just across from the Painted Hall was a chapel, which is one of the most ornately decorated building interiors I've ever seen. Even surpassing my recently repainted flat, which has two shades of blue. It's got a shiny organ too.
The Cutty Sark in nearby Greenwich.© Jeff Jones
Me trying to keep the cacophony of the nearby Trinity College of Music out of my head.© Jeff Jones
The Painted Hall, where navy types had their dinner.© Jeff Jones
Then it was time for some good ol' English hospitality in the form of a sandwich from the Regatta café. And a fine specimen of English cuisine it was too, with the bread aged in the fridge until the right degree of dryness was reached, and Lucy's espresso being sprayed all over the outside of the cup and saucer by an adept hand. You wouldn't get away with that in Belgium or Oz, but when it comes to food, the English do mediocrity down to a 'T'.
Now fortified, we wandered up to the observatory, which affords a fine view of London. There were plenty of schoolkids attempting to run up ahead of us, while complaining about having to lose weight. Lucy filled me in on the latest plans to improve hot school lunches, which have been too crap for too long. Kids shouldn't be enormous.
The observatory at Greenwich is also home of the Prime Meridian, which is where the world's longitude and time is measured from. Pretty cool, eh? So of course I set my watch to GMT + 1 (= Jeff's Mean Time?) and it came in very handy for keeping appointments. The octagon room in the observatory is cool too, and there's a telescope through which you can see Pluto. We checked out all the measuring instruments and learned about the first naval clocks and it was all very interesting. I even bought a stress ball (for my wrist) from the observatory shop. Been looking for one of those for ages. Then we saw a deer and a squirrel in the park while we heard that Japan had scored the first goal against Australia.
Standing on the Prime Meridian, with one foot in each hemisphere. Well, depending on your frame of reference.© Jeff Jones
A varrah fierce squirrel!.© Jeff Jones
Come back McGonagall, all is forgiven
We couldn't tarry though, as we had to get up to Norf London for a poetry reading in the evening. That's a moderately epic tube ride, but we bumped into Pete at Highgate and then proceeded to look for the pub. We were armed with the name of the pub (The Flask) and a map, but that was it. We didn't actually know which street it was on. But after some more walking to build up a hard earned thirst, we did manage to locate Ye Olde Pubbe. And a very fine one it was too, especially on a warm day. A nice leafy courtyard and a wooden themed interior with lots of small rooms, but all the windows had been opened to create that open feel. A few pints of Staropramen and a hamburger, and we were set for anything.Lucy's work friend Lesley was one of those reading, and she'd managed to round up a bit of an audience. It was the first time I've been to one of these, and it was a very informal affair. There were three poets and poetesses at first, but it grew to six by the end. Each would take turns reading their compositions. Most of it was surprisingly good, although there was one slightly serious woman who was all style and no substance, I thought. When she first launched into her poem the words "William McGonagall" flashed across my mind without warning, and I nearly cracked up. And it appeared that I wasn't the only one, as Lucy and Carolyn were trying to look at the ground too. Ooooooooohhhh dear.
I did enjoy most of the rest of the poems though, and there was a hilarious one read by someone called Simon right at the end that had us all going. It was based on a true story of an incongruous relationship that led to a bit of a disaster when he met the family. There was also a Danish ex-newsreader whose poem about her previous job was one I could very much relate too.
By this stage, Mandy had shown up with Dazza and a few of her friends, all celebrating because they had one a wad of cash on the Aussie-Japan match. Four of them had put five pounds each on Australia beating Japan 3-1...That was the result, so they wound up with 460 pounds! People should take Aussies seriously from time to time, especially when there is sport involved :-)
All in all, a good night and we didn't get too tanked on Staropramen.
Lesley prepares to read (she was good and we didn't laugh).© Jeff Jones
Dazza (L) shows Mandy and friend how to make a hand occarina. The Aussies were on fire after beating Japan 3-1 and winning a lot of pounds sterling.© Jeff Jones
The V&A
Tuesday's plan was to sleep in, which was accomplished without too much difficulty, and then to visit a couple of museums in town. Pete had the day off too, so we were three. We got the fast boat to Savoy - a far more pleasant way of getting into town - and wandered up to the V&A (Victoria and Albert museum), passing the grand hotel where cousin Essie had her recent wedding reception. From the outside, the V&A is an impressive building in itself, and the cool thing is that it's free. There's a stack of things to see inside, and even doing one floor is almost overload.We started with a coffee and a piece of Precambrian date loaf and lemon poppyseed cake from the museum café. I was relieved to find that that food standard between Greenwich and Kensington hadn't changed by even one degree. Staleness rules!
After a small Modernism gallery, we visited a vast hall full of silverware, then an even vaster hall full of sculpture repros. Trajan's column, Michelangelo's David, part of the facade of an old Spanish cathedral, and plenty of other religious stonework and artefacts dominated this huge hall. There must have been quite a bit of work in just reproducing all this stuff.
That was followed by corridors full of wrought iron from Germany and England, then a cool little musical instrument exhibition. Dad missed this when he was here last, but he'll definitely have to check it out. Plenty of old harpsichords, clavichords, harps, upright and forté pianos, bass viols - the full bit.
All that was only one floor of the V&A!
On a collision course for the Tower Bridge.© Jeff Jones
A hall of silverwave. All mine!.© Jeff Jones
Trajan's column in two bits in the modestly sized scuplture room. Every home needs one.© Jeff Jones
Superstar DJ
Of course we had to go around the corner to the natural history museum, where the Chemical Brothers clip for Hey boy, hey girl was filmed. There's a skeleton of a Diplodocus in the entry hall, and a fantastic dinosaur exhib, including a moderately lifelike moving Tyrannosaurus Rex. It's an impressive piece of robotics and there are warning signs that it can scare small children. I don't doubt that.The blue whale and mammal room was also worth a visit, and I learned a bit more about African and Asiatic elephants and gnus. We were somewhat knackered after that.
The evening was spent visiting cousin Polly and her kiddie Eva, who has come a long way since I seen her last in October. I don't know if she liked the fluffy velociraptor that Lucy gave her, but it'll grow on her, I'm sure. She delighted in creating buildings out of blocks and knocking them down again, and putting bread everywhere. She's pretty good at getting to bed though. We had a noice dinner and headed for home, courtesy of London's mini-cab system, which is about triple the price of a Sydney cab.
It was all over too fast. I need another week.
Hey boy, hey girl...it's a Diplodocus in the Natural History museum.© Jeff Jones
About to be eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.© Jeff Jones
Eva and Polly (both cousins).© Jeff Jones
Berchem report (I missed it, alas): Eddy cracked and Guido won. Well done!! But neither Eddy nor Guido were there last weekend, so it was just me and Guy Callens at the end. Also, a report from the "Henk Ballet Classic" will follow next week.
More pics
Flat-proud Lucy.© Jeff Jones
The low-key organ in the chapel opposite the Painted Hall.© Jeff Jones
A Harrier outside the maritime museum. These were the coolest planes.© Jeff Jones
Spot the deer in this pic. I think it was eaten by the squirrel.© Jeff Jones
Pete 'n Lucy in Highgate, in search of a pub.© Jeff Jones
The Flask in Highgate. Noice.© Jeff Jones
Where Essie had her wedding reception. Also noice.© Jeff Jones
If you go through here, you get to Buck Hice(tm).© Jeff Jones
The dirty but ornate exterior of the V & A.© Jeff Jones
A spinet.© Jeff Jones
Me and a Triceratops that I slew with my bare hands.© Jeff Jones
Lucy teaches Eva about modern architecture and engineering.© Jeff Jones
Preparing for a rather fine repast.© Jeff Jones
Saturday, June 10, 2006
uitstekende weer
London for a few days next week. Woo hoo!
The weather has turned awesome, as they say in the vernacular. From 10 degrees and raining on June 1 to about 30 and sunny today. Quelle miracle.
The hard yards have paid off and I think I am non-race fit again. Unfortunately I can't race yet, due to a) a sore wrist that is getting better and b) no licence, but I'll get one for the second half of the year.
Tuesday: had to go out alone, but did the Saturday loop at a moderate pace. There was bugger all wind, and I did the 55 km in 1:32, and the Trap Op in 5'13 - fastest time for me this year, without going above 177bpm, so that was nice.
Wednesday (easy day) I set a new record low heart rate crossing the line in the sprint: 90 bpm. OK, so we weren't sprinting, but rolling along at 30 km/h. I wasn't really using my capacity.
Thursday: best day of the year as far as the weather was concerned. 100 km in 2:43, door to door. The bunch wasn't going particularly fast, so I rolled off in pursuit of four others early on. We had six for the first lap, then three for half of the second lap, then just me and another guy coming back from Eine to Gent. We weren't going that hard, but it was such a nice day that it was good to sit on 38-40, doing 1-2 km turns.
Friday (easy day) was similar to Wednesday. I caught up with Matt Gilmore, and he regaled me with a few amusing anecdotes from his days at the AIS (before he cracked and turned Belgian). He was part of the track program, training for the 4000m team pursuit. At the pre-season training camp in Mexico, they were doing 320 km training rides! They were staying at the same hotel as the PDM pro team, and every day the Aussies would pass Alcala and co. out on the road. The PDM guys couldn't believe how many kilometres the Aussies were doing. "What the hell are you training for??" "A 4000 metre team pursuit..." Anyway, these days, things are done a bit differently.
Saturday, which brings us up to the present. Rode fairly hard, but not flat out in the hills, and we had a little bit of a headwind, so the Trap Op was only 5'23. We ended up with a biggish group, with four pros today: Matt Gilmore, Kurt Hovelynck (Jacques), Wouter Weylandt (Quick.Step), and James Vanlandschoot (Landbouwkrediet). Also Matt Smith, Gab Reid, Karl Becker, Guido and a few others. Actually, by the time people had taken various shortcuts, it was basically all together along the Schelde.
At about 10 km to go, it became a full-on attack fest, and it was great fun! A couple of guys would go, then we'd chase, counter, chase again. So the group got smaller, and I tried to make sure I went with everything. At about 3 km to go, Matt G. came by and I got on his wheel, forcing Weylandt to bring the rest up. Then Hovelynck went and I thought perhaps that would be it, but Vanlandschoot chased with Matt Smith and I, so we got him. At about 1 km to go it was just the two Matts, Hovelynck, Weylandt, and we did not stop attacking. Eventually Weylandt got a decent gap and handily won the sprint, while Matt Smith came around me for second. It was as much fun as you can have without throwing up.
No Berchem tomorrow, because our UK guy (or one of them) Ben Atkins is dropping by for a chat. Look out for Eddy!
And finally, for the Quantum mechanicists out there, and I know there are a lot of youse: Schroedinger's cat is dead.
The weather has turned awesome, as they say in the vernacular. From 10 degrees and raining on June 1 to about 30 and sunny today. Quelle miracle.
The hard yards have paid off and I think I am non-race fit again. Unfortunately I can't race yet, due to a) a sore wrist that is getting better and b) no licence, but I'll get one for the second half of the year.
Tuesday: had to go out alone, but did the Saturday loop at a moderate pace. There was bugger all wind, and I did the 55 km in 1:32, and the Trap Op in 5'13 - fastest time for me this year, without going above 177bpm, so that was nice.
Wednesday (easy day) I set a new record low heart rate crossing the line in the sprint: 90 bpm. OK, so we weren't sprinting, but rolling along at 30 km/h. I wasn't really using my capacity.
Thursday: best day of the year as far as the weather was concerned. 100 km in 2:43, door to door. The bunch wasn't going particularly fast, so I rolled off in pursuit of four others early on. We had six for the first lap, then three for half of the second lap, then just me and another guy coming back from Eine to Gent. We weren't going that hard, but it was such a nice day that it was good to sit on 38-40, doing 1-2 km turns.
Friday (easy day) was similar to Wednesday. I caught up with Matt Gilmore, and he regaled me with a few amusing anecdotes from his days at the AIS (before he cracked and turned Belgian). He was part of the track program, training for the 4000m team pursuit. At the pre-season training camp in Mexico, they were doing 320 km training rides! They were staying at the same hotel as the PDM pro team, and every day the Aussies would pass Alcala and co. out on the road. The PDM guys couldn't believe how many kilometres the Aussies were doing. "What the hell are you training for??" "A 4000 metre team pursuit..." Anyway, these days, things are done a bit differently.
Saturday, which brings us up to the present. Rode fairly hard, but not flat out in the hills, and we had a little bit of a headwind, so the Trap Op was only 5'23. We ended up with a biggish group, with four pros today: Matt Gilmore, Kurt Hovelynck (Jacques), Wouter Weylandt (Quick.Step), and James Vanlandschoot (Landbouwkrediet). Also Matt Smith, Gab Reid, Karl Becker, Guido and a few others. Actually, by the time people had taken various shortcuts, it was basically all together along the Schelde.
At about 10 km to go, it became a full-on attack fest, and it was great fun! A couple of guys would go, then we'd chase, counter, chase again. So the group got smaller, and I tried to make sure I went with everything. At about 3 km to go, Matt G. came by and I got on his wheel, forcing Weylandt to bring the rest up. Then Hovelynck went and I thought perhaps that would be it, but Vanlandschoot chased with Matt Smith and I, so we got him. At about 1 km to go it was just the two Matts, Hovelynck, Weylandt, and we did not stop attacking. Eventually Weylandt got a decent gap and handily won the sprint, while Matt Smith came around me for second. It was as much fun as you can have without throwing up.
No Berchem tomorrow, because our UK guy (or one of them) Ben Atkins is dropping by for a chat. Look out for Eddy!
And finally, for the Quantum mechanicists out there, and I know there are a lot of youse: Schroedinger's cat is dead.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Payback
Wow, we're (as in the Jones family) famous, with an article in the SMH and all. Ma and Pa can become Inner Western Suburbs socialites of note. Clearly, the only way is up.
In other news of import, I had the front room of the flat repainted in blue and blue, courtesy of Les' anagram friend Els. Cool, eh?
Wot a contrast!
© Jeff Jones
Riding wise, it finally stopped raining late last week, although not before I had seriously disturbed all of my elderly (70-75 yrs) neighbours with noise from my brand new mag trainer. OK, so I had it on the floor directly above the living room of Gaston down below, and the reverberation prevented him and Paula from being able to hear Kim Clijsters destroy the opposition in Roland Garros. I also had the window open, so various other neighbours wondered what the hell was going on too. So at Gaston's request (and he is a genial chap), I moved into the spare bedroom. I will invest in some soundproofing foam, methinks...
The weekend was almost the same as the previous in terms of kilometres, but I was slightly fitter. Saturday we averaged 39, and I managed to get the right wheel in what was a very drawn out sprint. People have a tendency to go a bit early.
Sunday was hard as usual, and again 36 km/h. Guido had a prior engagement, but Snelle Eddy was in a feisty mood and attacked several times in the first 10 km, eventually getting a bit of a gap. I thought we should let him go for a bit, because he seems to be happier when he's off the front. To my surprise, Jantje jumped across to him when the gap was still 10 seconds, but that was OK because he normally doesn't do too many turns. But then, the odds tipped in favour of the break when Piet Stevens suddenly joined them (he didn't start with us) before Mont St Aubert.
They were going away now, as no-one really wanted to chase hard before the mighty Mont. It was a good half a minute and reaching painful chasing stage, so I went harder on the false flat up to the climb and got Guy Callens with me. Thanks to AeroDescending(tm), we got them just before they hit the main road towards Tournai. We picked up Hubert, who normally shortcuts the Mont, and then we were six. Jantje stopped working after that.
We did work together for a while, but Eddy was still feisty and attacked after 40 km. I was quite happy to let him go for longer, but we ended up getting him just before Franses-lez-Anvaing. My legs were a bit cooked from the tempo when we hit Lahamaide, but I made sure I did the full climb in front this week :-) No bludging! At the top, only Eddy and Guy were left.
Guy contributed more this time, but Eddy was still clearly the strongest. He has great endurance, as well as a 15 year plus age advantage on me ;-) But I didn't quite have to go as deep on the Chapel and Quatre Vents to hold on, and still had enough to keep rolling through up to the finish. On the Hotonde, Eddy attacked as expected, but although I had to let him go a bit, the gap wasn't too big at the top and Guy and I closed it. 53x19 this week instead of the 23. Still, I found it hard to stay on Eddy's wheel when he sprinted. No contest there. The endurance definitely needs work.
On the way home, I made my habitual stop at the Oudenaarde Coke machine. I poured all my spare change into the coin slot, and it was 1.20. Unfortunately, 500mL of coke was 1.30. Dang. I had a 20 euro note and luckily there was a change machine, so I got 20 x 1 euro coins as well as the all important Coke.
Not sure if I'll make it out to Berchem next week. We'll see.
In other news of import, I had the front room of the flat repainted in blue and blue, courtesy of Les' anagram friend Els. Cool, eh?
Wot a contrast!© Jeff Jones
Riding wise, it finally stopped raining late last week, although not before I had seriously disturbed all of my elderly (70-75 yrs) neighbours with noise from my brand new mag trainer. OK, so I had it on the floor directly above the living room of Gaston down below, and the reverberation prevented him and Paula from being able to hear Kim Clijsters destroy the opposition in Roland Garros. I also had the window open, so various other neighbours wondered what the hell was going on too. So at Gaston's request (and he is a genial chap), I moved into the spare bedroom. I will invest in some soundproofing foam, methinks...
The weekend was almost the same as the previous in terms of kilometres, but I was slightly fitter. Saturday we averaged 39, and I managed to get the right wheel in what was a very drawn out sprint. People have a tendency to go a bit early.
Sunday was hard as usual, and again 36 km/h. Guido had a prior engagement, but Snelle Eddy was in a feisty mood and attacked several times in the first 10 km, eventually getting a bit of a gap. I thought we should let him go for a bit, because he seems to be happier when he's off the front. To my surprise, Jantje jumped across to him when the gap was still 10 seconds, but that was OK because he normally doesn't do too many turns. But then, the odds tipped in favour of the break when Piet Stevens suddenly joined them (he didn't start with us) before Mont St Aubert.
They were going away now, as no-one really wanted to chase hard before the mighty Mont. It was a good half a minute and reaching painful chasing stage, so I went harder on the false flat up to the climb and got Guy Callens with me. Thanks to AeroDescending(tm), we got them just before they hit the main road towards Tournai. We picked up Hubert, who normally shortcuts the Mont, and then we were six. Jantje stopped working after that.
We did work together for a while, but Eddy was still feisty and attacked after 40 km. I was quite happy to let him go for longer, but we ended up getting him just before Franses-lez-Anvaing. My legs were a bit cooked from the tempo when we hit Lahamaide, but I made sure I did the full climb in front this week :-) No bludging! At the top, only Eddy and Guy were left.
Guy contributed more this time, but Eddy was still clearly the strongest. He has great endurance, as well as a 15 year plus age advantage on me ;-) But I didn't quite have to go as deep on the Chapel and Quatre Vents to hold on, and still had enough to keep rolling through up to the finish. On the Hotonde, Eddy attacked as expected, but although I had to let him go a bit, the gap wasn't too big at the top and Guy and I closed it. 53x19 this week instead of the 23. Still, I found it hard to stay on Eddy's wheel when he sprinted. No contest there. The endurance definitely needs work.
On the way home, I made my habitual stop at the Oudenaarde Coke machine. I poured all my spare change into the coin slot, and it was 1.20. Unfortunately, 500mL of coke was 1.30. Dang. I had a 20 euro note and luckily there was a change machine, so I got 20 x 1 euro coins as well as the all important Coke.
Not sure if I'll make it out to Berchem next week. We'll see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
