Gullegem...

So... I had this race in Gullegem yesterday, it was only about 5k from where I'm living. It was basically a crit, with islands in the roads (and in one of the corners), and a bunch of these speed bump type things... The race went pretty well at the start... I stayed in the top 15 or so guys starting out, I wanted desperatley to get in the break. After following about every attempt at a break, I finally got in one about 30 minutes in. Everything seemed good, but after 3 laps everyone else in the break decided to sit up... I attacked and tried to keep things going, but no one would do any more than sit on my wheel. I ended up having some asthma problems after that move and dropped to the back of the pack after getting caught. For a little while I wasn't sure I was going to catch my breath and was a little worried I may end up with a full blown asthma attack. After about 15 minutes, I started to feel like I could take in oxygen again and began to recover from my previous efforts. Unfortunately, in that time, the field let 30 guys go up the road and out of sight... I didn't realize how many people were up the road, I just new I couldn't see the pace car which meant someone was up the road. I stayed up at the front for the rest of the race in the hopes I could get in another break, but again the odds seemed stacked against me. No one would work with me in the breaks and the pack seemed very quick to chase me down... I ended up finishing in the top 50 or so... Maybe I'm paranoid, but the timing of that break getting away and the break last week at Markem seem to show a similar trend... when I am not at the front or in the break... We'll see what happens in a month, hopefully things will get better... My next race is tomorrow, hopefully I can get recovered from yesterday so I'm ready for the onslaught again...

J signing off...