Just a Quick Update

Haven't been on here for a while. So where to begin... Well I had a race today. Pretty happy to be able to finish this one. It was a 108km race, with 13 laps of, ahhh I can't really be bothered doing maths so you can figure out how long one lap was. I felt pretty good today, had a few little attacks off the front and was in a couple breakaway groups but it all came to nothing. I was a bit disappointed though because at the end of the race I found out that there was a big group of riders that broke away on the second lap and another big group got away with a few laps to go. I had no idea that there was a break up the road. So another thing to add to the 'learning list' is that I HAVE TO start and stay up near the front of the bunch at all times so I am able to see riders try and breakaway and so I can decide whether to join them up in the break.  My roommate, Taylor finished in 5th and I placed 36th out of 120 starters so not too bad of a day I guess.
Last weekend I caught a train up to Antwerp and met my friend Tom who lives in Alexandra back home but rides for another team here in Belgium. There was a concert at the Lotto Arena that Tom and I wanted to go to. It started at 8.30pm on Saturday and finished at 6am Sunday so we were pulling an all nighter and then we both had to catch a 2.5 hour train ride home in the morning. We had a few drinks in a bar and then moved on to a club that no one was in and had a few more drinks there. We then had to make a 2km stumble from the club to the stadium in the freezing cold and snow. (I forgot to mention that it had been snowing since that morning.) We finally found the stadium and basically had an awesome night. Had a quick power nap on the floor at about 1am where all the food and drink stores and toilets are in the stadium. Had redbull that woke me up a bit then went back in. All in all it was a pretty sweet night. Had a mean sleep when I got home at midday, had dinner at 6 and then back to bed at 9.30.
The Tour of Flanders is on Sunday. (For all you non cyclists, Tour of Flanders is a huge one day Classic pro race here in Belgium.) So on Sunday we will go down and watch the race cause the course is basically just down the road. Most of the teams have arrived so we are going to go have a look around tomorrow which will be awesome. That reminds me...
Those pictures I put up earlier were from the race E3 Harelbeke which is a pro race that finishes in the town of Harelbeke, which is just up the road. Andrew, who is the team director and the owner of the place Taylor and I are staying in, took us out to various points of where the riders will pass during the race. So we would drive out to this one corner and a crowd of maybe 75+ people would be all gathered on the edge of the road to watch the riders go pass. Then as soon as the bunch went past everyone would turn around and bolt it back to their cars and drive to the next point where you could watch the riders go by again. We went to about 7 different points and it was chaos! It was like running with the bulls in Spain! It was a free-for-all to get back to your car first so you could be the first one to drive away. Andrew telling us to hurry up and get in the car! My leg was still hanging out of the car while it was moving because it got stuck on a thorn bush. Sometimes the bunch was only half way past us and Andrew was yelling at us "Let's go let's go!" It was such an awesome day. Being able to see my man Fabian Cancellara riding solo along the cobble sections was insanely cool and for him to win the race was even better.
That's pretty much it. Nothing else too exciting here at the moment. It hasn't snowed or rained for a little while so I guess that's pretty exciting. It is still very cold but the weather forecast for late next week shows some double digits so I can't wait for next weekend.
I have a race on Saturday so I'll let you know how it all goes.
I've been reading the NZ news and poor Jesse Ryder, Go the Breakers and the Black Caps... Seriously.

E3 Harelbeke

Few Pictures

Front view of the house

My famous BnE pie. Pretty chuffed about this

That's the side yard I guess you can call it on a cold frosty morning

Antwerp Cantraal train station

My frozen bike after my 20 minute snow ride

My frozen booties

Hasn't stopped snowing all day

More snow

This is the front driveway this morning

And this is side garden thing

Icicle

Where's Summer?

So I had my first race today and I was really excited and was feeling pretty good and confident. I really wanted to have a solid race and maybe even take it out. It was a cold day today so I went to the race fully prepared with all my warm kit ready. I stood outside when I got there trying to figure out what to wear. It didn't feel too cold just standing there so I thought maybe just a short sleeve thermal and arm warmers will do because I thought I would heat up anyway during the race. The race started and made my way up to the front of the bunch and was feeling pretty good. It was quite a technical course with 17 laps of sharp slippery, muddy and cracked corners adding up to 125km. On the second lap a few riders were trying to go up the road but it all came to nothing pretty quickly. I decided to have a crack off the front to test the legs out and they were feeling pretty awesome. I lasted about 3k by myself until a little group of riders caught up to me. The group got caught after about a lap and then two other riders went off the front (one of the riders being the Belgium Elite Champion [He wasn't the Pro Belgium Champ so no it wasn't Tom Boonen unfortunately]) and I chased up to them. The three of us spent about 5 or so laps up the front then another group of 3 riders caught up to us. We had a lead of maybe one minute on the bunch after about 10 laps so the pace of the breakaway was starting to pick up. My choice of clothing and my theory of getting warmer as the race went on was failing miserably. I had thin short fingered gloves on and I couldn't feel my hands and fingers anymore. I was starting to get really really cold coming close to the 2 hour mark. My legs and arms were starting to seize up and my heart rate was dropping. I was starting to find it really hard to keep up with the breakaway, my legs just lost all power and feeling in them. After two hours of riding I was becoming almost hypothermic and I dropped from the breakaway. I couldn't hold on to the peloton either I was just that cold. I decided to pull out and get warm again because I had lost feeling in my hands, feet, arms and legs and I was shaking more than Michael J. Fox. Luckily, Andrew (the team director) had a friend who lives on the same road as the race finish line so I had hot drinks and a hot shower at his house and got warm again. I hope summer comes soon. Supposed to snow on Monday and Tuesday which will be kind of cool but I would prefer summer to be honest.
Overall I am really gutted with the race having to pull out with being cold when I could've easily dressed warmer and if I did get too hot I could just take layers of clothing off but hey, I learnt. I loved the race though, it was so much fun and completely different from New Zealand racing, we started with about 120 riders and were riding a small circuit 17 times and riding on very small and technical farm roads. Can't wait to do some more races soon!
Tomorrow I'm going to watch a race with other Terra Footwear riders racing so it will be cool to finally meet up with the rest of the team and watch some racing. Also tomorrow, Taylor Gunman who is a kiwi rider from the Shore that rides for the team will be my new roommate which will be cool. Finally get a roommate!

Latest Update

I was supposed to have my first race on Sunday but that didn't end up happening because on Friday I must of caught a stomach virus as I had my head in the toilet for most of Friday night and was still feeling unwell on Saturday and I still wasn't feeling 100% on Sunday, I did go out for a cruise on the bike though (only had to wear 3 layers of clothing this time).
It's starting to get a bit warmer here now. Woke up with lots of frost on the ground but that hot shiny thing in the sky is out today for the first time since I've been here. I'm sitting by the window at the moment with my shirt and shorts on so hopefully summer is on its way soon.
Had a little explore of the town the other day and found the bowling alley, might become a pro bowler when I get home. Supermarket is only 1.5k down the road which is easy to walk to and stock up the shelves.
I'm looking forward to getting a roommate, it's pretty boring being all by myself for the whole day. I think my roommate is a Pom which is good cause then I can brag on about the All Blacks to him.
I'm going to head out soon and get a few things like a new pillow cause mine at the moment is really just a dirty sheet with three feathers in it, a new set of handle bars for my bike, a few cooking dishes and some more food.

Nick Bain Cycling: New Cycling Season

So I've finally made it to Belgium and It's cold, no surprises there. I've settled into my little flat and now I'm just waiting for my one roommate to arrive, it's pretty boring being by myself. I've got my new bike and I'm getting my riding gear soon and hopefully I'll go for a ride this afternoon. I have my first race on Sunday so I can't wait for that. I'll keep everyone updated on how I went on Sunday.