Keir Plaice

I finished tenth today in the first stage of the Ardennes Challenge. Racing here in Wallonie is merciless; there is not a flat piece of road in the entire region and the courses are marked by climb after climb with tight little roads winding up through the woods; the asphalt patched over so many times that the orginial paving is no longer visible.

I sensed that the race would be made early on and it was; the peloton racing out of the gate at full clip. The first selections were made on the earliest climbs; just a handful of kilometres into the race. On the initial uphill, I made a group of ten and had two team mates; a perfect situation. We rolled over the first mountain sprint twenty five kilometres into the race but it then came back together and the race reshuffled. When it next split I was again in the front; this time in a group of eight but before long a few more bridged across including my Aussie team mate Brodie and we were away again.

At about the seventy k mark yet another group made the junction though the now larger pack broke again almost immediately. Here I put myself in a difficult situation; watching the leaders go away up the climb as I was getting water from the cars and trying not to panic. I knew that it was the critical move; so grabbed Brodie and together went across on the climb; a hard turn for both of us.

Once together and again with twelve, the race settled in and we rolled towards the finishing circuits with the speed very high on the mostly downhill section. We were in for three, ten kilometer circuits each marked by a categorized climb.

I was feeling good and stayed in the front; marking moves but in a relatively relaxed state.

The last time up the climb; I accelerated at the bottom but overestimated my powers and couldn’t make a difference. Soon after there was a counter attack; I got on the wheels but was really suffering, already gassed from the earlier effort. About a kilometer from the top I was dropped and watched the others ride away, completely pissed at myself. Riding alone I lost about a minute in those last 5km but came in tenth; well clear of the second group.

Tomorrow is another day and I am aiming for more of the same save for the botched finale. I bloody well love this kind of racing.

Never stop pushing the pedals; sometimes, you’ll surprise yourself.

Yesterday, I raced a kermesse in Wakken, Belgie. All day, I had felt lethargic and slow and not really keen on racing on my bike. I took the start and was immediately suffering. It was a 7.5km omloop; 15 rounds of narrow, twisty farm roads and blasting wind. I was still missing that punch in my legs and was gassed quickly when I had to make an effort. It was a difficult course to find any recovery and as we were ripping around I was struggling. I almost got off at the 70km mark, but told myself I had to stay in the first quarter of the bunch no matter what. Then it started to split and I just followed wheels, letting others do the work and ending up in the lead breakaway of 16. Still not in my best state; I dodged turns consistently and did as little as possible but trying to stay on the lookout for dangerous attacks. The race got chaotic in the last 20km but still I did nothing but follow. Inside 10km, I noticed the others tiring and layed down a few attacks before getting away with a couple others for a few kilometers. As we were caught a counter attack of 3 got away for the win and then the rest of us mucked around to the finish. Inside 1km someone attack and I followed the wheel, hoping he would make it stick and I could jump him. It wasn’t to be however and I finished near the back of the group sprint in 11th place. Considering where I was at earlier; it was at least something to take home and proof that persistence and a bit of savvy takes you a long way in this sport. 

Fleche Ardenaisse is one hell of a hard race featuring an incessant series of climbs through the forests of Wallonia. I am not certain why, but from the gun my legs were empty; I had no power or fluidity and was resigned to hanging pn as long as I could. I made the first several splits and already the peloton was severely diminished when I was dropped at the 120km point, unable to follow any longer on yet another steep slope. There is not much else to say, I race in Belgium again today in the Omloop van de Geluwe and then have a couple weeks of break to get back on track.

This evening in Medemblik was the team trial event of the Dutch club competition. It was really nice to be racing so close to home and be able to relax a bit and have a weekend without travel. All the back and forth had been wearing on me…

The race was 50km with a 25km out and back circuit to be completed twice. The road was straightforward with a crosswind both ways. We were a bit disorganized but rode decently considering. I did my part but wasn’t really comfortable as I was racing with clip on aero bars and standard wheels on my road bike. My team mates had full rigs which was great for our speed but made my work cut out for me. I sure would have loved one of these tonight!

The Ronde van Limburg is one of the most important races in the Netherlands featuring the hardest course and the best riders. Going in I didn’t know what to expect; I knew I had been riding well in recent races but I had almost stopped believing in my climbing. For a long time I struggled for the necessary form to go uphill well and while I knew my condition now was better; I had to date not done a climbing race this year to see where I was at.

The course of the Ronde van Limburg is incessantly twisty, technical and up and down with climb after steep climb. Racing over the hills I was in a very good place, riding in the front and answering accelerations comfortably. I was amazing myself, staying calm and really looking forward to the finale.

Then, coming out of a corner I stood up to accelerate and found myself holding my handlebars in the air separate from my bike which was falling away below me. My steerer tube had broken off from my fork in the same manner as George Hincapie’s had done a few years ago in Paris Roubaix and I was diving helplessly to the ground. There was no spare bike for me to continue on and I had to climb into the broom wagon with my race finished.

Sitting in the van for the next two hours; I was between tears and wanting to beat the shit out of something. It is really, really disappointing and feels like a very big lost opportunity. 

Wednesday evening I raced in the Parel van de Veluwe klassiker, a beautiful race through rolling wooded countryside (unusual for Holland). I had decided beforehand to stay calm from the start and save myself for the finale. The race began very quickly and about an hour in a breakaway went away. It was the right move with representation from all the teams and I knew right away that my tactic was wrong and I had missed the boat. With team mates up the road, there was nothing to do but stay in the pack and see what would happen. At 120km we hit a cross wind section and the race exploded, I made the first selection then split away with 12 others. We raced to the finish, all the time narrowing the gap to the leaders but too far away to reach them. I attacked with 5km to go and had a good lead but got reeled in and botched the sprint, finishing 24th. The feelings were good though and things are rolling along. Next up is the Ronde van Limburg, a bloody hard race that is essentially a mini Amstel Gold (well as mini as a 200km race can be). I’ll be doing more accumulated climbing on Sunday than my total for last 4 months so it might be a bit of a shock but I’m stoked to give it a crack.