I've Had Much Better Weeks Than This Before

Well this week definitely was not the best week I've ever had. Started off with me being sick for most of the week. I had a terrible sleep on Wednesday and a cracking headache all through the night and day. Friday, I was still not feeling to great so I just kept munching on the multi-vitamins so that I could race on Sunday. I was feeling alright on Saturday but I still woke up with a really sore throat and during my training my chest began to become really sore when breathing so I just took it easy. Come race day at the Pro Kermesse in Roselare, all I wanted to do was sit in the bunch, do no work and finish. That goal didn't really turn out too well for me. It was quite a technical course that goes straight through the middle of a town so there were lots of tight narrow corners and traffic islands to avoid. We headed out of town on to a narrow road with fields either side of it. I was riding on the left side of the road, right in the gutter, sometimes doing a bit of off-roading. Then I took road cycling off-roading a bit to the extreme. We were riding along and I was moving up the bunch on the far left when all of a sudden, the road basically just stopped; I couldn't see the road at all, just a bit of gravel and then about a 7 foot drop into a ditch. I was heading straight for the ditch! I had a quick decision to make: I could try and save myself and swing out to the right, in the gravel but have my front wheel wash out in the gravel and go down hard in the gravel and take down half the bunch then probably tumble down into the ditch orrr just lift up the front and do a one handed back flip into the ditch and hope I stick the landing.  Couldn't quite get the full rotation in my one handed back flip but I lifted the front wheel, landed in the 7 foot ditch and forward flipped in the deep grass. I opened up my eyes to find myself lying on my back, feet in the air, feet still clipped into the pedals, bike directly above me and a really sore crotch. Not the best way to start the first lap. I unclipped my feet from the pedals and tried climbing out of the ditch which was bit of a struggle, it was a bitch of a ditch. Main thing was that the bike and wheels were fine because I was borrowing Taylor's carbon wheels. I was all good as well, just a nice tingling feeling on my arms from the lovely stinging nettles that I met with at the bottom, a few little cuts on my elbow that bleed out really good just to make it look that much more worse looking and a little graze on the top of my wee wee. The stem of the bike just missed the important bits but just got the top which was really painful. I got back on the bike and rode in the car convoy to try and catch back up to the race but my chest was really starting to hurt from my sickness. It got to a point where I couldn't breathe because it hurt to much. So it wasn't much of a race for me. This week hasn't brought me down at all, I'm still feeling positive and ready for a good second half of the season. (I think the crash was just too funny to sit and have a cry about. Apparently the bunch saw it and just started cracking up laughing.) Still recovering a bit from sickness but I think I'm nearly back at 100%. The nice weather is helping me recover too with a good dose of the vitamin D. Been chilling in shorts and a singlet for most of the day, don't think anyone could do that back home.
There's a Top Competition Team TimeTrial on this Sunday that I will be doing with the team so just be riding the TT bike this week and getting ready for the race. First TT that I've done for a while so I have no idea how I will go but hopefully everything will go good and there's no ditches in the course.
My roommate, Taylor, is back from London so it's nice to have someone to ride and talk with and share with cooking and cleaning duties. Then in a few weeks, mum and dad come over and I get to do some travelling with them around London, Belgium and France which I'm looking forward to. France is pretty much just up the road but I still haven't crossed the border. We've ridden along side the border quite a few times and ridden into French speaking Belgium but still not France.
It's pretty cool with the Tour de France being on aswell because we get back from our ride, flick the TV on and watch the tour. No having to stay up all night to watch the racing. Watching it gets you motivated as well, makes you want to go out and ride your bike. Watching the hilly stages makes me want to go out and ride some hills but sadly, there are none here.
Yea that's basically it. Didn't do much this week cause of sickness but I'm starting to feel better and hopefully I'll be right for the weekend. Some solid training this week should do me good for the weekend.
Yea, onwards and upwards.

Thanks for reading

Nick