Monday, June 26, 2006

Still cool and raining

Hmmm. I am sure you are curious about what experiences have occurred off the bike here in Belgium. Periodically someone will get bored and want a haircut, so one of the guys will usually volunteer to cut hair. Well one guy was getting his haircut and ended up with some bald spot on the back of his head. The even funnier part was that he did not want it to be fixed and has left it for the past couple of weeks. I am not sure if I have told you this yet, but four wheelers are legal to drive on the streets here, which can look quite funny when you are accustomed to seeing them on the road. I have had a chance to make a trip or two into town to see different sights. I have to say I have never been to a place where there are so many churches and very large and artistically designed. Sint Barths Cathedral has one of the oldest and largest oil paintings surviving today that is made up of I believe 13 panels. Due to my trip getting extended I hope to see more sights in my down time.
Now to the racing. I have had some good rides lately. Yesterday everything was panning out to be a good result. This was until we came through the roundabout and I hit the ground pretty hard and slid, due to the fact that it has been raining for hours and the surface on the roundabout was slick. I got away with scrapes on my hip, knee and torso. The only real damage to the bike was the cap on my left shifter cracked and came off. I have today and tomorrow off from racing and then on Wednesday I will be racing in an interclub. This is supposed to be a brutal race with more cobbled climbs and roads. I thought having done a race called Rouge Roubaix in Louisiana I would be a little prepared. Man was I wrong. The first time I raced on cobbles my hands were tingling for about a half hour after getting done. I will give you guys an update when I get back from the race on Wednesday.

Matt

2 comments:

Shannon Koch said...

thats awesome. I wish I had gotten to see some stuff like that while I was there. I saw only one catherdral and we didn't get to go inside. Getting used to the rain jacket are you? :)
Hope your still doing okay.

malinda said...

Hey Matt,
I just wanted to let you know that I've been checking out yr postings this summer. I'm a rider at MSU who has been taking it easy this summer. Anyway, continued good luck!