Another awesome week!

I had another awesome week of riding and Belgium life. The weather was great all week and so was the riding.

Saturday I went on a group ride with Romain, Matt and Romains father. The sun was out and there was around 30-40 riders ready to rock. The first half was just tempo, but then things started heating up. Romain, Matt, Romains father and I started driving it up at the front, putting the hurt on the old guys. We eventually rode off the front and got a good pace line going. I felt great on the flats, I was just flying when I was taking pulls.

At the end of the ride we had a run in with a car. A car slammed on its brakes just in front of us and Romain and Matt both almost ran into it. I rolled on by just knowing that it’s a dangerous sport and we just have to be careful. Romain and the driver exchanged some words, then Romains father turned around to see what going on. The driver then bolted swerving into the other lane nearly hitting Romains father. Romain and his dad quickly turned around to chase the car, I slowly followed, but didn’t want to get involved. I thought that they were just going to get the license plate, but when I finally caught up I saw something I didn’t expect. Romain stopped right in front of the car so its couldn’t drive away, while his father smashed both the side mirrors and then went behind the car and ripped of the windshield wiper.

I was shocked at the steps they took to “get back” at this driver. I’ve been reading stories about other people and their problems with drivers on the road, and found that in the end, peace is the only way to win. If you enrage someone in a one ton car your shit out of luck. It’s a dangerous road out there, but with drivers that don’t like cyclist it’s a death wish.

Everyday but five, I have gone to school by bike. I take a busy street and often have close calls, sometimes people will honk or yell out their window and when they do I just flash the peace sign. I don’t want to fight anyone or make anyone mad, I just want to go to school on my bike without crashing. I love riding my bike and when I’m in the saddle its like heaven. Everything is peaceful and I’m loving every second, so when a car comes speeding by or has road rage I feel sorry for them that they are in such a rush and don’t take time to enjoy the moment.

Anyway, I should be going to my first road race next weekend with Romain. I think I have some alright form, but the level of racing here is high so will see.

Peace
Ian