Great weekend of riding

So last weekend there weren’t any classic races planned, so I joined a few friends who were going to Belgium for a ride on Saturday – we did the Tilff-Bastogne-Tilff course (virtually the same as Liege-Bastogne-Liege except without the shitty Liege parts!). The course is absolutely stellar, with some amazing views in the Belgian Ardennes – stuff that I haven’t seen in what seems like years! I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was!

It helped that the day was 30 degrees with not a cloud in the sky – this was the absolutely perfect cycling day: good friends riding at a solid pace, early start (right – 11:00 on the bike :o), great route planned, and nothing to do all day but ride ride ride. In the end we didn’t get back to the car until about 6pm, but no complaints – we all had an absolute blast. This day was right up there with Paris-Roubaix for fun factor (PR wins based on sheer coolness though :o)

Then on Sunday I woke up and decided to ride with the Wedrenners, who were doing a special Sunday ride of 130km. This turned out to be a stellar ride too, as we hit an area near Nijmegen that I never even knew existed! I couldn’t believe it – tiny winding country roads through rolling hills, no cars, and stellar views that at times rivaled those of the day before in Belgium…..why didn’t I know about this place already??!? What a great ride though – so much fun. And just as we crested the finishing climb the rain started, how good was that timing? It was one of those warm summer rains that comes just at the right time to cool you down, so it was perfect. We finished the ride home in a light drizzle with huge grins on our faces :o))

That afternoon I went into work for one of the guide teams that was coming back with their unit of bikes (so I had to let them into the warehouse so they could unload). I quickly realized I wasn’t feeling very well, and had the chills and an upset stomach. I ended up tossing my cookies, so I kicked the guides out and went home, where I spent the better part of the night either on the toilet or in my bed, with just enough energy to get up and watch the end of the Dutch getting their asses kicked by Portugal for their ticket home from the World Cup.

It wasn’t until Tuesday night that I felt I started to have strength again, and all week my stomach was a little bit off – which made it hard for this weekends racing!