Keir Plaice

I’ve spent the past couple weeks in the Wallon province of Namur, staying with the family of Michel, our European soigneur with team Canada, and an all around legend. He raced as a pro years ago, has an astonishing palmares, and has been involved with Belgian professional teams all of his life. It’s been a bit like having a  hockey dad for cycling, and I am incredribly grateful for everything that he and his family have been doing for me. The Wallon way of life is wonderful and I’ve been getting by pretty well with the French language.

I’ve done a ton of work this week in preparation for June; with 3 races, a pile of kilometers and heaps of time behind the moto. Things are coming good.  I could use some better luck however. Yesterday in a top notch kermesse I was in the winning break and about to start mixing things up, when my tire went flat. It happened through a corner and after a massive speed way style fishtail, I managed to straighten out and keep things upright. Unfortunately that was the end of the race for me with no neutral support. Shit happens. Just gotta keep plugging away, do things right and make good things happen.

This afternoon is my final race over here for the next while, as I head back to Canada on Wednesday. Lets just say I have an amazing Grandma.

I’ve been sticking around in Belgium these past few days so I can keep racing. It was a great month here in Tielt-Winge accompanied by all the Canadians and I have really fallen in love with Belgium. The mid-week kermesses start in the evening now which has thrown the regular schedule for a bit of a loop as its usually going on 9pm by the time we are finishing. It sure is great for the atmosphere though with heaps of people out watching. On Wednesday, I was 18th in Beveren. I keep getting in the top twenty with a couple top tens but have yet to notch a big one. That being said, it is some hella good racing here and everything is very hotly contested. The kermesses are about as close to a hockey game as you can get on a bike. On Wednesday there was a scrap as two Belgians put their bikes aside after the finish line and had a punch up. 

The past two nights I decided take my power meter out in the races (screen blacked out with tape) just to get an idea afterwards of the demands.Its neat to look at afterwards, but the trick is to completely ignore any such sh*t when you are out there (or anything your body is telling you), race your bike and worry about doing what needs to be done.