Rest and Recovery

Brugge
Brugge again
Delicious Waffle
Our ride on the Tour of Flanders course
The best cappuccino ever


For the past few days, we have been doing various things to keep us busy, since we have had a 5 day break from racing. We rode on the track in Brugge on Tuesday, and after cruised the town for a couple of hours. It is one of the coolest towns I have been to, and one of the only towns in Belgium that still has a lot of old architecture, since many of the other towns were destroyed in the Wars. On Wednesday we rode part of the Tour of Flanders course, over a couple of the famous cobbled climbs. Previously I have only heard of what cobbles are like, but once I actually rode them I have found out it is impossible to describe the feeling of riding them. Your entire body rattles and shakes violently, leaving everything sore and tired. Now I know why all of the riders who win those races are so big. Cobbles are crazy.
Thursday afternoon we were able to see a big pro race here in Izegem. The atmosphere at the race was so cool, because the entire town and more were there. We could hardly move around the course because of the swarms of people. The whole Astana pro team from Kazakhstan was there, Discovery had a rider, T-Mobile had a rider, and many other pro teams were present. The race was won by the famous gigantic Belgian rider Nico Eeckhout (his nickname is Rambo because he is so big). It was pretty sweet.
During this break, the racing has been reduced, but my consumption of unhealthy foods has done the opposite. I have had a few too many panenkoeken (crepes) with Nutella, Rice tarts, and Belgian waffles. They are too good to resist. It seems that the worst food for you, is the cheapest and best tasting. It is hard to find anything at the bakeries that costs more than a Euro, and there is a bakery on almost every block. It is awesome.
Tomorrow we resume our racing with a prestigious Interclub race in Brussels, and then a kermesse on Sunday. After that we return home on Monday. It has been an awesome trip, and it is too bad it is coming to an end. I look forward to seeing everyone at home.

Larry