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Karen Fulton - European Tour 2010
Race Report 4.
Well week 4 has came around quick, I had a bit quieter week, with just a time trial mid week and a Belgium race Saturday.
The Time Trial was Wednesday evening, we travelled about an hour to get to Noordeloos where it was held, i was bursting to get there, couldn't wait to hear the humm of the disc and feel the speed of my beautiful TT bike (sorry Jim, your beautiful TT bike).
Got there, had a quick drive around the course, which was a super flat, exposed circuit, which we rode round twice, 21.5. Very very windy. Sorted m entry, and set my trainer up, my start time was 7.30pm. I was wondering how i would go, not being the best TT-er in the world, but i knew id done some good training and some bloody fast racing, so who knows, i was just looking forward to seeing what I could do.
I jumped off the trainer at 7.20, disc in, skinny zipped up, helmet on and cruised down to the start at 7.25, then proceeded to check out some of the opposition, there are some big strong legged girls in this country...........hmmmmmmm On to the start line, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, I'm off a quick reminder of the painfulness of time trialing then shut up mind, lets get on with it, power though the pedal, power through the pedal........30mins and 8 secs later i was finished, phew, that was hard, bit of a battle with the wind and a wee bit disappointed, i had wanted to go under 30mins, oh well cie la vie, still not bad. Then actually Karen, not bad at all YOU WON. wicked! made my day, not bad for an average TT-er.
Saturday morning dawned and YES YES YES, we off to De Klinge in Belgium. I'm very excited as you know, Belgium racing really spins my dial. It was a Top Competition race (high
level) so prob quite a big field, cool.
Two hour drive and we there, to Bogeys Cafe to enter and do the toilet thing. Course is 7.4k circuit, 13x - 96ks.
Sorted my bike, got my number on, was trying to drink heaps, it was very hot and i was already sweating - a bit of a worry. then went for a warm up and to try and find out where start/finish line was...........as usual no-one in this country knows these sort of insignificant facts.......but ask them where the pub is and walah.....they know that.
Anyway at 10 minutes to three girls started milling around an area so off i went, that must be the start. We sat there for ages in the sweltering sun, while the organizer blabbed on in Flemish about god knows what, (oh, yea i understood one thing, 110 starters!) then the next thing we're off.......holy the pace was on straight away, left at the round about onto a fairly wide round with speed bumps for a wee way then hard right over a curb (grief) onto a narrow path, hard left onto a more narrow path, straight into a cross wind (neat) that was a longish stretch then hard right into a head wind, this piece of path/road twisted along for a while with lots of corners, till we turned hard right onto wide road that lasted maybe 700m before we were back into the village, more corners then onto cobbles and wallah, we back where we started, and guess what we are being told to slow down, and then to stop......WTF? I eventually find one of the girls i know who speaks English to find that, that lap we had just done was a warm up lap...............you should have heard all the girls..........i later found out that a few girls had missed the start, so they decided to re-start the race, hahahahaha. This is the sort of thing that goes on in this country.
Off we go again, the race has finally started, and by golly its hot, i start to wind my way through the bunch to find a nice wee possie somewhere near the front but not on the front, there's some dodgy cornering going on and holy, you should see the way some of these girls jump the curb...........Lotto goes to the front in the cross wind and puts it in the gutter, so this is how the race is going to go, hard in the cross wind then had out of the right hander into the head wind, it certainly splits the field.
The race progressed fairly well, i was happy with the way i was riding, felt relaxed, i had no pain in my hips which i have been having since my last crash, i stayed in good position and did the patience thing, i wasn't going to go with anything till that last lap.....
Then one of two things happened, a crash - right in bloody front of me AGAIN! yes i had wondered back abit, but was still in top 20.......for goodness sake, i ended up in the long grass of off the road, still astride my bike, got back on the road and there was a nice big gap GREAT! starting chasing like a mad woman into the head wind, then thought, who is behind me, oh the rest of the field, I'm not doing the chasing, let the teams do it..........so i sat in, girls behind me telling me to lap through........excuse me? we eventually go back on, phew! then the other thing that was going on was that i was rapidly running out of drink, it was very very hot and i was sweating a lot, not used to this heat. I was looking for Pippa, she had come with us to Belgium to look after me and the Tubanters team who in have been racing and hanging with.........for 3 laps i looked for her.......i had run out and was getting frantic, my skin was doing that prickly thing and i knew i was in trouble, still had 5 laps to go. then finally saw her, but she had no drinks........ i was yelling at her in my KF fashion, then had to hope like hell she would be there on next lap, i had asked Karin (one of Tubanter team) if she had any drink, she was out too.....it was desperate.
Phew, next lap round, where is she? where is she? there she is.........".PIPPA" I was shouting at her, she sees me and the bottle is way up high like i need to stand on my seat to get it, I'm shouting again in my KF way (very politely) "lower the f..kn bottle" i think i was going to kill her hahahahahahahaha - anyway i don't know how, but i got that bottle in my hand and didn't let go, i just hoped that i would be ok.
last four laps, got messy, a few more crashes, i was just quietly sitting in top 20 hoping to stay on my bike, 1 lap to go and i knew i had to move up, 3 crashes in last lap.....all just in front of me...........flip! the last one being the one that ruined it for me, 2.5 k to go, was just moving up to top 5 on the left side of the road and 2 riders down, i swerved further left to miss a rider and half the peloton went right, i was a the bloody back just like that...................left, right, right then left, i was cornering like a mad woman again, caught up, went through some of the bunch onto the cobbles and the finish line that they must have drawn in chalk during the race, still only mid pack......grrrrrrr. 110 riders on the start line 58 finished.
In NZ i would be really brassed off with a result like that, but here you finish and the 2.5hrs have been a blast, yes a result would be great, but a lot harder to achieve, i can honestly say that after every race in this country my passion and love for this sport is heightened, yes the results are harder to get, but you know you have raced your bike.
Race Report NO. 3
The Art of Suffering!
I would like to think i have done my apprentership in Suffering, but every now and then my body decides i need a wee reminder........................
Two days of racing this weekend, Saturday, a criterium in Berkel (not far from Rotterdam) and Sunday, a criterium in Germany.
I was looking forward to this weekend, the time had come to get a podium finish and the time was this weekend.
After just over an hours drive we arrived, i trotted off to find the toilet and enter, one of the great things about racing in this country is that you don't have to pay entry fees if you are an international, handed in my licence, got my number and off i went to get changed and warm up.
The course was a circuit of around 1.2k, half very bumpy uneven clinkers, and half uneven tarmac with loads of man hole covers and holes.......Excellent.
100 starters on this course, and road management worry about large numbers on the Hope circuit..........what ever!
Warmed up on the course then headed to he start line to find all the Muppets already lined up..........seriously, they bloody line up 15-20 mins before the race start, then we get called up in a set order anyway.....duh!
as usual I was near the back, have become quite accustomed to this so its all good, just normally takes a few laps to
work your way forward. So I thought!
Not today, the gun went and off we went like a bat out of hell - this is usual for a Dutch crit. we were strung out in a long line and i was waiting for the let up so i could move forward but it didn't come, oh well just hang on, it will come soon, girls were already starting to drop wheels and i was having to accelerate past them to get back in contact.....how much longer????? then the inevitable, a girl 3 bikes in front came down - NOT AGAIN - i swerved, braked, skidded, just missed the barrier, had to unclip then get started again.
Chasing to get back on, there's a bit group with me, a couple girls roll through and take the softest laps.......for goodness sake, we've just got to get back on as quick as possible. I was blowing, the voice in my head, "you will get caught in crashes if you too near the back, when will you learn?" I think i bloody know that, i was arguing with myself now.
After what seem like an eternity (about 5 laps actually) of excruciating pain we finally made contact with front bunch again, but i wasn't feeling good at all. we were only 15ks in the 60k race and i was swinging, the pace was still seriously on i could feel every bump over the clinkers go through my entire body, my legs were burning and my heart was trying to break through my rib cage.........bugger this, half my brain telling me to pack it in, you're going to have a heart attack, the other telling me harden up, its good training, its the sh*t that makes you strong.......
Anyway, this is really how the race went on, the pace never really let up, i trying to move up, hold my position, move up, hold my position and so on, all with a pained look on my face that i was sure was going to stay with me forever. ten laps to go and there was a very slight change in pace, brain reacts before body, darted through the bunch, cut a few riders off in next corner and here i was at the front, phew!
body just caught up and i start swinging, brain telling body, just hang on, 9 laps to go, body not really wanting to listen to brain.........really must sort this out. Anyway i stayed near front till 3 laps to go, then i was starting to see stars, couple of big teams started winding up, i was trying to go with them.....ended up mid pack, mid 20's, only
35 finished.
1 hour drive home, then out for an easy spin, desperately trying to loosen up my legs. Tomorrows another day.
Sunday:
Criterium in Nettetal, Germany.
Woke up to legs still a bit sore but not too bad.
Cup of strong Toxic Coffee, Breaky, a quick look at emails then out the house, en route to a Nettetal in Germany for another criterium.........what would the day bring????
The weather wasn't looking too flash, secretly i was hoping for rain, these girls don't appear to like the rain.
The race, "Rund ums Weiher Kastell" (round Weiher castle) was around a castle in Nettetal, the course was 2.2k long, we did just 22 laps (quite a short crit).
I quite like racing in Germany, racing very very organized and there's always cake and coffee afterwards.
Anyway, we got there, entered, and warmed up while we waited for cat 3 men to finish. The drizzle had started and i was rubbing my hands together, i needed a result today.
42 women on the start line, 42 careers i was about to ruin, hahahahahahaha....... Yes i had packed some attitude and my mind was working over time as i tried to work out how i was going to win this race.
The gun went off, 22 laps to go and a sprint every lap, nice. The course was twisty with lots of corners, a small descent and a slight uphill to the start finish line, i shot through to the front and started mixing it up, just after the first sprint i launched my first attack, that was countered by a girl from a German team and then back together, another few attacks then on lap 3 i launched attack no.2 again it went nowhere and the field came back together, lap 4, sprinted for the prime, got 2nd then kept going, legs were stating to scream abit, but i wanted a break and these girls were struggling on the wet corners. A couple girls from nutrixon, a German team came over, then one countered, it was all on, a couple more counter attacks and we had a break. a couple of us worked pretty hard to make it stick while there were four sitters.........not for long. There were two girls from a Dutch team and two from a German team then two of us who were on our own (with out team mates).
The two teams wanted to sit on and sprint for the primes and i wanted the break to stick, so had to keep at it, poor legs, they have had a hard week. It ended up being quite tactical. By 5 laps to go, we know we were home i dried, so i tried to take it easy and sort my self out for the sprint, i was pretty tired, but was hoping i could pull some thing out of the bag. The German girls started getting a bit grizzly with me because i wouldn't pull a lap, i told them politely to get over it.........that's life! hah.
Anyway, just as i thought, they started one two-ing and then the Dutch twosome started one two-ing, nice! i tried to sit in and make each team chase, but it was a gamble, a lap to go and i was willing myself over the line
first...........come on kf sort it. 5th! just
haven't got a good sprint at the moment, was a little gutted but hey, what can you do.
loved the race, loving the European journey, just gotta keep trying.
Plus, how could you complain when there was coffee and cake to finish the day.
Well I went to Belgium yesterday to do a Belgium Cup Race.
It was awesome, very relaxed but also very organised. These people love cycling, you can feel it........
We rocked up, found where to enter - which was the pub on the corner.
The race was 109ks, this consisted of 4 x one circuit of 15k's then 5 x a smaller cicuit of 9k's. Basically taking in the surrounding villages and i think passing every pub. the course was made up of uneven concrete road, paths, cobbles and lots of corners, plus a few ups and downs. Start/Finish line was on a hill, there would be a prime every 2nd lap.
I was very excited, the whole atmosphere was giving me the warm fuzzys.......this was real bike racing. Race kicked off around 5.20 pm, fast and furious, there were some really good teams there which appeared to have some bloody strong looking riders.
I took about half a lap to work my way to the front and there i stayed in all the action, I attacked after the first lap on the hill, a couple girls came with me and we stayed away for maybe half a lap, then i got away again a few laps later when i bridged over to a break, nothing really stuck though till a group went clear half way through race......of course i wasnt in it...but thats ok, i was having a ball.
Race stayed hard and fast, lots of attacks but we never got the break back. I stuffed up the finish AGAIN, so just just finished mid pack. Not unhappy though, loved the race, it tested me but i was in the mix.
Handed my number in at the beer tent on the start/finish line, all the spectators, organisers getting ready for a party.....very cool.
In the car and back to Netherlands, but the belgium racing experience has got to me, it will have a place in my heart always. And i will be back!
kf
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