After recovering from sickness at Nationals, a wild and beautiful Gastown Grand Prix, and a stint at home, I jetted across the pond to Belgium, for a month of Kermesse racing. I aim to race between 10 and 15 “1.12B” races which are open to Elites, U23, and European Pro riders. A kermesse is a specific type of circuit racing where a town will sponsor the event and the race many laps of a 5-10 km lap with the race being between 110 and 120 km in length. Winning a Kermesse is extremely prestigious with World Tour Pro’s such as Tim Merlier and Arnaud De Lie getting their big break after dominating the kermesse scene. With all to play for and nothing to lose, racing a kermesse guarantees you fast-paced and aggressive racing against field-sizes with skill and fitness-levels unmatched in the North American race scene.
After landing in Paris, navigating lost-luggage scares, and a faulty SIM card, I made my way to Izegem, Belgium by train to meet up with some fellow Canadians. With a jam packed schedule seeing me race every second or third day, I didn’t have time to wait for jet lag to catch up to me because my first race was the following day. Without the luxury of a car, I ride between 8 and 40 km to get to these races, warm-up mandatory haha. The Westrozebeke 1.12B was my first race featuring 116km, 580m of elevation gain (hilly for Belgian), I came into this race with no expectations having just traveled for so long and wanted to get one under my belt. Turns out racing with no expectations helps take the pressure off because before I knew it, I had made the winning breakaway with 11 other riders. We were working well together rolling turns and ticking off the kilometers when we saw a chase break of ~20 riders catching up to us. Chaos ensued when the groups merged because 30 people is too many to work cohesively. Attacks were flying and as we entered the closing laps, the travel legs caught up with me and I was battling muscle spasms for the final two laps. With 6 riders making it up the road in the final sector, I joltingly “sprinted” my way to 22nd, a great result for Belgium and a good omen for this trip to come.
The following two races, Lichtervelde and Deinze, were frustrating pan-flat affairs where I felt I was trying too hard to make the breakaway only for the next attack to be the one to go. With speeds averaging over 47 kph, I resigned myself to staying safe and keeping the wheels on the road amidst the crashes and chaos. As the days tick by, the weather has been getting consistently more dreary with constant big winds and rain every day, both of which would play a big factor in races to come. My next opportunity came in our “home” race, the Izegem-Bosmolens 1.12B, which featured the most technical race course I’ve ridden with multiple chicanes, corners greater than ninety degrees, narrow and exposed farm roads combined with driving wind and rain making the 112 km race that much more challenging. If you’ve ever ridden in Europe, there is something about the combination of diesel fumes and road surface where it becomes as slippery as ice when wet resulting in the beginning of the race being marred with crashes. Navigating my way through the carnage I found myself at the front of the race just in time to see the winning breakaway ride off into the distance. Using the technical course and cornering abilities to my advantage, I tried multiple times to create a chase group but the “main” group had been whittled down to less than 40 riders who were serious about not letting anyone else get up the road, but refused to work. Feeling out of my depth given that the finale featured a downhill, tail-wind sprint finish on cobbles with a chicane, the big sprinters went to work mopping up the minor placings with me holding my own for 28th, another top 30 secured.
Moorsele 1.12B was as flat as they come with less than 200m of elevation gain. However, the massive crosswinds and exposed roads promised opportunities for those willing to make the race hard. With Jumbo-Visma and Lotto Destiny riders in attendance, I knew we were in for a challenging race. After the predictable fast start, the first few laps brought attacks and counter attacks as the groups split and reformed. I soon found myself in the second breakaway 20-30 seconds behind the first break of 8 riders and no matter how hard a few of us tried to get across, it was not meant to be. Another top 30 finish at 24th. Up to this point my form had been stellar and my legs were feeling good despite the very intense racing and big efforts. However, I was feeling frustrated with how the results were not lining up with the form I’m on and how well I had been riding in these races but huge improvements from last year and some harder parcours to come.
Little did I know that my frustrations were set to continue at the Aartrijke 1.12B. This was the hardest race I did last year and I was looking forward to the exposed crosswinds, small rises, and technical parcour. With the strongest winds of the trip and two long exposed crosswind sections, it didn’t take many laps for the select front group of ~40 riders to be established. I was on one of those special days where the legs were feeling amazing, I was tuned in and hyper focused, and could just feel that I was riding with the confidence I needed for a top result. About 70 km into the race I was attacking off the front with a few others in the cross-headwind section. Riding on the sheltered side of the rider in front of me meant I had limited room to maneuver when movement ahead of us caused an overlap of wheels at the exact moment the edge of the road crumbled into a huge pothole. With nowhere to go, I hit the ragged edge at 50+ kph, slicing my tire in half and sending over the handlebars. Some people say that crashes happen in slow motion but this was over before I knew it. Adrenaline pumping, I jumped up as fast as I could to get out of the way of the charging peloton but not before getting run over a couple of times. I found myself in an interesting place because despite road riding for almost four years, this was my first proper road crash and after the frustration and anger at having crashed, I mostly felt relieved to get this crash out of the way and that crashing was not as bad as I had built it up to be in my mind. Helping matters was the incredible support that these races have. A quick ride in the race ambulance deposited me at the medical tent where the race doctor and staff did a full work up and concussion check before scrubbing my road rash and bandaging me up. All in all I was very lucky to hobble away with a few very bruised ribs and a lot of skin missing on my right side.
A few jokes from the local pharmacist about needing to ride the bike rather than falling off of it saw me with all the special concoctions and lotions needed to treat my wounds before getting back on the bike, and back to racing this weekend if all goes well. Despite not earning the top result I have been chasing, I have gained so much in terms of confidence in my skills, fitness, and love for the support, in addition to learning a lot each and every race about perseverance, tactics, and how to race from the front of the race rather than just surviving. Stay tuned for future updates!
