Back in the groove

After my brief 'holiday' period I returned to Holland to get back into the swing of it with some Dutch racing which is a good chance to gain some confidence in the bunch and get some strength and power into the legs racing on the flat. The first race back was on Wednesday, the 145.3km Parel van Veluwe - a long race in women's racing terms. The day was sunny and still, no wind to break the peleton up which sometimes makes the racing very dicey in Holland and so I was keen to get into a breakaway, get some good training in and stay out of trouble...as it would turn out I got much more than I had bargained for! There were attacks going from the start, and I have to admit that even 3km into the race I was initiating things which is a little silly and/or brave depending on how you look at it! I got into a break of 5 girls after 18km, and the km's started to click away...at no point was I feeling fantastic but that constant thought of..."this is good for me, i couldn't hurt myself like this in training" was running through my head. The long and short of it is that the break stayed away....126km out the front, I flew completely and was caught with 1km to go....very tragic indeed! I was completely wrecked after the race...I couldn't move but this has to make you stronger right??
The next day we had a typical Dutch style crit on in Hazerswoude Dorp, only 5km from where we live....it started at 8:15pm but after one of the first real summer days here it was a lovely evening. The entire 1km course was on stones, pave kind of stuff...my favourite...not! However, I really enjoyed the race, it was fun....my team-mates Miesi and Suzanne were in the break from the gun and I 'controlled' the peleton, or so I like to think! Suus won on the night, Miesi was 5th and I won the bunch kick for 6th - sprinter that I am! We rolled home and couldn't believe that it was already 10:30pm....its still light here then...so very hard to turn off and try to get to sleep!
Saturday was another crit on in a place called Wik bij Duurstede, not a super fantastic course but good for some power training with many corners and short straights. I wasn't in flying form but team-mate Miesi was and she came away with the win on the day....there was a front group of 5 and then a few girls in between and then I was 2nd in the bunch sprint....not atrocious but I do need a little more practice with this crit racing! I rode home from the crit, about 80km and it was such a nice time to be on the bike, in the evening as the sun is starting to very slowly going down....I had a few "I'm loving life, the world is such a beautiful place" moments!
I finished the week off with another solid day on Sunday and a good dose of sunshine....I'm the Aussie and I'm starting to complain that it is too hot over here...something is wrong! For some reason, 28 degrees over here feels like about 35, or maybe I have just acclimatised to wintry Europe!