Egged on at the Classics
We are right in the thick of Classics season, with big races every few days. This means we are living as a team together at our base in Belgium for the next few weeks.
You hear tales of awful cold team houses where you must sleep in some horrific dormitory but thankfully ours is a far cry from that. Its rather idyllic, with home-cooked meals for us every evening and comfy apartments; we even have a little old pony who meanders around the gardens to add to the rural Belgian charm.
It’s amazing how quickly you bond when living together – you quickly learn everyone’s eating, sleeping and race-prep habits.
Perhaps to aid morale, the lady who runs it leaves out a bowl of mini foil-wrapped chocolate eggs. During my first stint here no eggs were required, but I’ve now had a total of three and I fear it could be a slippery slope!
As seems to be the norm in cycling bases, there are lots of photos and jerseys around the place. After Ghent-wevelgem we headed out to Geraardsbergen to a cafe on our recovery day. As we settled down with our drinks, some male pros came in for a coffee too. Looking quizzically at an Inter-marche Wanty rider, my British team-mate April piped up: “I’m sure I know that guy from somewhere.”
A few minutes later she exclaimed “Oh he’s the guy from dinner!” It turns out we’ve been looking at a signed, life-sized poster of him next on the wall next to our dinner table for the past month. We didn’t mention the poster. Is it ever OK to tell a stranger that you eat your dinner looking at them every evening’?
The racing is every bit as brutal as it looks but I’m sure those mini chocolate eggs will keep me going!