oui?...non? huhhuh!!

Dear Diary,
I arrived back in Belgium a few days ago from viva la France!!! France was amazing fun, a lot of bonjouring went on! It was a very cool experience because in 6hrs I was in 3 different countries, Belgium, Luxemburg and France. I had 2 goals while I was in France and that was to have a good race and to try as many things that had French in there name. Here is my list of incomplete and completed ventures:
French Toast- negative
French Loaf- positive
French Cappuccino- positive
French Fries- negative
Perrier- positive, I know it doesn’t have the word French in it, but common its Perrier!!
French dressing- positive

That’s all I could think of while I was there…

Now let’s dive in to the racing portion of the adventure in France. First the course was the hardest course I have ever ridden. A lot of flat open grass sections that were so saturated that you would sink 2 inches down…yeah not fun. The course was limited to things that I am good at…Climbing! I tried to stay positive but I just knew it was going to be a true test. Morning of the race everything went as planned, eat breakfast, pack car and relax. Tara headed over in the car before me, I decided to ride over and use that for my warm up. I was excited to race because there were now 3 U23 Canadians in the mix so we had one another to feed off of! I had my race plan all set up in my head, conserve and have consistent power from start to finish. Then came my 8th spot call up. That’s when I decided it was time to take the lead and dance with the big boys. Being called up 8th at a world cup was big deal for me, had the red and white on my shoulders ready to giver. I looked down the front line and beside me were the Dutch and Italian National Champions. Then I looked farther and the field just got deeper. The whole front line was National Champions from all different countries…WOW…you may not know this but that’s a big deal...hahaha. I decided that I would forget my first game plan and use this 8th call up as a test. I would go as hard as I could and try my hardest to stay with the front group. Bang sounded the gun, I found myself sitting in the top 10 after the first corner and 20 step stair case, and the best part I was feeling good. I did everything I could to stay in contact with the lead group. It didn’t last long, I was breathing so hard I was struggling to find air…for the first time in my racing career I could not keep up with my breathing, that’s how hard I was going! As you probably suspect I started to feel the pain…I went backwards faster through the field then you can blink. I was pretty pumped about everything; I was able to stick with the best in the world for a lap. All I need now is 6 more laps! I ended up 32nd in the race, things fell apart after my huge first lap effort, it cost me in the end, but I got 1st for experience points!
Now I am back in Belgium training and enjoying the rainy weather of Tielte-winge!
11days!!!!