First off, Martijn Maaskant is a badass for finishing 4th at his first ever Paris Roubaix. He’s certainly the next big thing.

The day started off like any other race, except that I was more nervous than usual. 1, it’s Paris Roubaix, the high point of the season for me. 2, I and two other boys (Will and CJ) were supposed to try for the early move. If we can get in the early break, and get up the road then we’re out of trouble for positioning purposes, and quite possibly in a better tactical position to help our “Ace Cards” Maggy, and Martijn when the split from the field happens to catch the break.

In the first hour and a half we covered nearly 90 km. The average speed for the first hour was 51.7 kph and the avg power on the PowerTap was pushing 390 watts pedaling power. That is a super high avg. for a race in a tailwind, on flat to semi-rolling road while attemping to get in the early move. Tells ya just how fast and hard it was going, or how big of a unit I am :).

Coming into the first cobbled section it was stressed during the team meeting that we needed to be at the front with Maggy. Depending on weather conditions, it was either going to be sopping wet, dry, or a mix. Nonetheless we put three guys on the front with Maggy behind us. Interestingly, the group didn’t haul ass into the first section. The riders on the front were going slow and wide. In other words, Tyler, CJ, and myself who were on the front, weren’t doing a leadout, we were actually shoulder to shoulder with the other teams that were present, going about 30 kph, and using the whole road. We didn’t want anybody from the back passing, and causing mayhem. About 1km from the section it let loose and some of us got swarmed but not before Tyler and Maggy hit the section first. Basically in the top ten for the first 5 sections it was Slipstream providing for a pretty insane feeling.

Unfortunately for me, after the second section, I went to move up the left, and had to dive right at the last moment before a right hand turn and yes, that’s right, took myself out. I slammed the right side of my body into the ground, and smashed my head against the pavement while my brake hood went straight into my eye/nose, and immediately started to gush blood. Some police officer grabbed my bike and started walking down the road with it, I caught up went to grab it and he held on like he was trying keep it. I think with all the adrenalin rushing, he was surprised how hard I hanked back when I realized he wasn’t going to let go. He was a big fellow, and I pulled him off his feet.

Anyways, I had to start chasing. I was pretty screwed, because each section now for the next few comes every few kilometers apart. The group flogs through the section, gets to the smooth pavement, breaths, and then rushes again to the next section. Being last on the cobbles is bad. There are guys coming off the back, guys crashing, bottles all over the road, spectators trying to grab them, motos, photographers, basically it’s mayhem. After each section I kept having to chase the main group, and strung out off the back of the main bunch because of the accordian affect of guys at the back being slower than the group of front. After this, I still had to dig to move back up, and you can only do this a handful of time before it takes it toll on an already stressed system.

I got back to the main group just before the section leading to the Arenberg forest, hit a massive hole which took me into the mud, and out the back again! That punched the ticket, and I was on my own until another group came up from behind. We rode together to the second feed and that was the day.

I will be back in force next year…

I woke up this morning around 8:30 AM with a minor headache. I didn’t get to bed until almost midnight, and the headache was probably from the wine and couple of beers I shared with Will, Hendy, his fiancee, Miss Katie Mactier, and Erica, the girlfriend of one of our mechanics.  Here is the thing, it’s less than a week before Paris Roubaix, and ever since I crashed in Flanders, I have been cracked. Burnt out on the whole put on the shorts and go out training/racing thing. I can hide it well, and the World Track Championships certainly didn’t help matters as it rained every freaking day, so I rode the trainer every freaking day. Nonetheless it pin pointed at Flanders. I’m was not riding badly, but I was getting little sleep, and stressing about that along with how I needed to ride well, keep my weight low, taxes blah blah blah right. This happens to everyone and individually we all handle it differently. For me it’s getting back to base. Here I was, having been on the road for roughly 2.5 weeks. In those 2.5 weeks here is what I did…after a hard two weeks leading up to the upcoming races. Thursday before Milan: Travel to Italy Saturday: Milan San RemoSunday: Travel to England/Ride the trackMon-Sun: Track riding/Track WorldsMon: Travel to BelgiumTues-Thurs: 3 days de PanneSun: Tour of Flanders  Anyways, I woke up and this thought of how I began riding again in the spring of 2004 after I had quit it 2001 to attend PSU and whatnot. What occurred to me was this: I raced a few Pro 1/2 races in Florida that spring and remember getting my ass handed to me. I got dropped, and dropped out of the race on the back stretch in one of the criteriums. The point is, 4 years later I’m racing the Spring Classics. I thought about what I had done in the past month and a half and knew why I was feeling this way. It was literally at this moment I felt relief. It just fell of my shoulders and I could breath.Went out behind the motor and hit with Allen Lim, and had a great day on the bike. My heart rate was back, my power, my legs, my head everything felt better. A few weeks ago, I was struggling like a stuffed pig at 164 bpm, my max is 185ish, and today it was back.   The point of this post is this:For those of you out there reading my randomness, it’s a series of progressions. Very few people will come through the ranks and just “get” it, it does happen, but not often. For the majority its a learning curve, and when I tackled Het Volk, Kurne, Milan, Flanders etc, I learned for the next time I do those races. Just like I learned when I was dropped in that Crit now five seasons ago. We all have to keep things in perspective and move forward, and we will get there. It comes and goes like a wave. Just learn to ride the wave with good form, adequate rest, training, diets etc and it comes. Alright, running to the market for some food. Roasting some lamb with my roomie Will and having a couple of guests over for some dinner. Roubaix is on Sunday, and I’m feeling ready to take it on. DON’T MISS IT BRAD HUFF: Miss ya buddy, miss ya big time.  

Okay, well, here I am, sitting in Girona, home away from home for the next three days. I have competed in the biggest races this year, and had some of the craziest experiences that I have ever had. Two years ago, I was a first year pro, and three years ago, I was at Penn State, dating some chick who told me to get a real job. Funny, how life works out, because never in a million years would I have thought I’d be here at this moment. Just returned from the Tour of Flanders, battered and bruised. It was a true brothel of a race and an epic race the way i’ve always read about and pictured in my head. I saw more than four seasons in one day. Warm sun, warm rain, cold rain, snow, sleet, snow/rain, hail, wind, tail wind, cross wind, etc. I took a rightful crash up and over the bars, after some idiot in front of me hit a photographer. When I came to too and was searching for my bike in the tangle that used to be high class race machines (both bodies, and bikes) I couldn’t find it. I looked up the road, and then down, and lying about 50 feet down the road was my steed. After a quick yell into the radio, “Meatball Down, in need of bike”, I did a quick trot to find my wrecked piece lying miserably in a heap. A spectator was there immediately to ask me for my bottles, “Biddon sil vou plais”. I just looked at him in awe, and just handed him the bottles that had been ripped off my bike. I couldn’t believe it, although, I will say it was hailing terrible weather, and yet he  was still there in support. What else could I do. Got the new bike, and joined with Lampre to take up Ballan to the group again. I was pretty dazed though. I had an instant headache, and a very sore neck. It was almost immediately, but I couldn’t stop, even though I knew it was the smart thing to do. It’s Flanders, I can’t wuss out. We chased, got back on, and I wasn’t the same. I got back to the front, but was in and out. I felt good, and then bad, and then good, and then really bad. My head was throbbing, as if I had a terrible hangover, and I couldn’t barely hold my head up due to my neck. This the second time I’ve been really hurt in a crash. The first was at the Six Day in Burnaby where I hurt my wrist/hand that still hurts, but that’s another story. I didn’t slide in this crash. I just went over the bars, sent the bike airmail down the road, and smashed the pavement with my head. I drank a lot of milk as a kid, and still do. Does the body good. Love the milkstache I get. Leave it there all day.  The crowds were amazing. Belgium is well, one of my new favorite places to race. Everyone there was so supportive. I was crawling alone, and off the back of the bunch up the Kwaremont, and back on before the koppenburg and then off again until I pulled into the 2nd feed for the car. Everyone yelled for me, “Meatball GO GO GO, AHHAHH SLIPSTREAM MEATBALL!”  Funny, and amazing. Truly, truly amazing. BELGIAN FANS I LOVE YOU, I PROMISE I’LL BE BACK IN FORCE! Zabel is an ass. I was on the white line on the left side of the road, and this Milram rider just came over on me, and cut me off, nearly crashing me. I yelled some foul words, swung to the right, and punched the jerk in the arse. He turned, at which point I saw who it was, (doesn’t matter to me), and he tell me, “Don’t Be An A hole”. I was dumbstruck. I couldn’t even respond because he was so stupid for saying such a dumb remark, when clearly he was the A Hole! Eh, that’s racing.As big G says, “It’s Flanders Meatball, everyone is in everyones way”. Aight time for bed my friends, Sorry it took so long to update, been on the road getting my head kicked in.