Hanging out in Kortrijk, Belgium. We are about 6 km from Gent, the start and finish of this years edition of Het Volk. The weather outside is freaking crazy. First it rained all night, so the 13 km or so of cobbled sections both uphill and flat are going to be a slippery mess. Secondly, the wind is unreal! It’s seriously constantly windy with high gusts over 35 mph. Lying in my bed I seriously thought the house/hotel we are staying in was going to blow over. I feel like one of the Three Little Pigs, so thank god every structure in Belgium is made of bricks.

For the past two weeks, Magnus the maximus has been my drill Sergeant. I don’t mean just as a training mentor, but rather a physical I’m here to pound you, I eat little boys, I like nails for breakfast, who’s your uncle type drill instructor.

Fortunately for me, I thrive on this type of training! The raw energy and motivation as the rides begin until we begin slaughtering one another finding that each of us is thick headed and equally enjoying the self inflicted pain. Each of us driving one another until the mere language being used is nothing more than variable grunts. Grunts that have different tones, pitches, and volumes to establish how each feels or which way to go, left or right?

The training has been great, and we both successfully accomplished what we wanted to get done. For the sergeant, it was getting back on top of the training for Roubaix and for me the same plus some in order to be a force to reckon with when the time has come.

Even though the training was brutal, we had great dinners using local cuisine to our delights as planned in the mornings over breakfast. This was simply something to keep us looking forward to throughout the day haha. Following dinner, nice after dinner drinks such White Russians or a local herbal liquor, Ratafia Russet and one anothers company (Will, Maggy, and I) to enjoy as the pain subsided into well earned sleep.

Okay, time to get kitted up for todays drama!

BRING IT THE F**K ON!

Pre Warming of the Chamois

Bikes ready for the Cobbles