I can honestly say that the pave is one of the hardest things I have ever encountered on the bike. And to top it off I did not have such a fresh day on the bike today. I got crashed out and was definitely not impressed when I got to the place where we were staying that night. Apparently it is race tradition, to stay at the boarding school nearby the race. There were a total of 10 teams staying there altogether. Crazy eh? Just like in the showers after Paris-Roubaix...it is all real...it still happens! Let me walk you through this interesting stay in Belgium, help you make more sense of those pictures. They might not make much sense at first but after a looooong painful day on the bike we find ways to entertain ourselves since we had no phones, computer, tv...thank goodness for i-pod! Everything here is communal. That long hall with the colored curtains are the single bedrooms where each rider spent the night. tiny winy bed, no pillow, and no privacy...after we settled in our bunks we started to wonder around and look for the bathroom and showers and what not. Then we came across the "douches" ....that's when the goofing off started...you DOUCHE ...no YOU DOUCHE! You DOUCHE first! hahaha....did it sound like we were bored??or exausted maybe..or both? That was a rough night of sleep for me. I was sore everywhere and not really looking forward to the next day at Dottignies...luckly I had bounced back and was able to finish this race only to get dropped out of the front group on the last lap due to a rider flatting in the hardest section of the course rough road, cross wind....strung out....we could close the gap...and off they went ...its pretty amazing how hard it is to race the rollers and the flats over here...you almost look forward to the short hard climbs than the flats thats where the hurting begins...FULL THROTTLE! geeez!!!
I can honestly say that the pave is one of the hardest things I have ever encountered on the bike. And to top it off I did not have such a fresh day on the bike today. I got crashed out and was definitely not impressed when I got to the place where we were staying that night. Apparently it is race tradition, to stay at the boarding school nearby the race. There were a total of 10 teams staying there altogether. Crazy eh? Just like in the showers after Paris-Roubaix...it is all real...it still happens! Let me walk you through this interesting stay in Belgium, help you make more sense of those pictures. They might not make much sense at first but after a looooong painful day on the bike we find ways to entertain ourselves since we had no phones, computer, tv...thank goodness for i-pod! Everything here is communal. That long hall with the colored curtains are the single bedrooms where each rider spent the night. tiny winy bed, no pillow, and no privacy...after we settled in our bunks we started to wonder around and look for the bathroom and showers and what not. Then we came across the "douches" ....that's when the goofing off started...you DOUCHE ...no YOU DOUCHE! You DOUCHE first! hahaha....did it sound like we were bored??or exausted maybe..or both? That was a rough night of sleep for me. I was sore everywhere and not really looking forward to the next day at Dottignies...luckly I had bounced back and was able to finish this race only to get dropped out of the front group on the last lap due to a rider flatting in the hardest section of the course rough road, cross wind....strung out....we could close the gap...and off they went ...its pretty amazing how hard it is to race the rollers and the flats over here...you almost look forward to the short hard climbs than the flats thats where the hurting begins...FULL THROTTLE! geeez!!! 
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