So here it is, my first ever blog. How does one start such a thing? I guess I’ll start by introducing myself and from then on it should all be easy and entertaining.
The facts:
Name: Ard Hendrik Kees Kessels
Nationality: Dutch, currently living in Antwerp, Belgium
Born: In the mid 70s
Bike shop owner since: March 2010
Avid mountain-biker since: 1991.
Short term mission: Do one good race to finish the 2010 season on a high and carry those happy memories into winter.
Long term mission: Make my bike shop, Sprocket Scientist, a success while preparing for the 2011 racing season.
Right now, the 2010 European marathon season is winding down. As with any good season there have been ups and there have been downs, if you’ll pardon the pun. After preparing myself well in winter I was in very good shape for the first month of the racing calendar. I finished 36th in the first big marathon of the year, which is a big thing for me in Belgium. The level of racing here seems so professional compared to the other countries I ride in (Belgium has 6 UCI trade teams for mountain-biking in a country roughly the size of a stamp).
The mid-season did not really work for me, I seemed to drop out of too many races with mechanicals, off days, flats and God knows which other excuses I had to use. Come Transalp Challenge, I was ready for do-or-die. I was planning to ride the event with a friend who isn’t a racer and I prepped myself mentally for a nice week, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. A month before the race, my friend had to pull out and I ended up inviting Australian superhero Mike Blewitt.
After two finishes as team leader, I’ve always wanted to ride Transalp being the slower one of the team. Boy, did I get more than I’d hoped for. Mike holds the middle ground between a beast and a machine. Although riding the best stage race of my life so far, I usually met Mike at the food stations. He would be waiting there, leaning onto a fountain or just hanging out. I would throw my water bottle at him and keep riding at my own pace. Mike would refill the bottle, grab a handful of energy bars, catch, supply me and then take off towards the next food station.
Transalp teams have a common appearance at the race’s nightly pasta parties. The strongest member of the team is chatting with everybody at the table, excited for tomorrow’s stage and planning a walk into town after dinner. Needless to say, I was member number two, the one that is staring into a plate of food, quietly stuffing it all in and going back for seconds in the hope of stashing enough energy for next day.
All in all, it was a wonderful week of riding. A week of stage racing in the Alps, a 45th place finish and the chance to meet a bunch of interesting new people, all whilst managing to deal with Italian organizations; bellissimo! Mentally, though, this all took it’s toll. After all the excitement over a good finish faded, I just couldn’t motivate myself to sign up for a race and torture myself for a 100+ kilometres. One month of planned rest quickly became three. The shop has been keeping me more than busy, August and September appeared to be monsoon season in Belgium and it seems like there’s been at least fifteen other reasons to not go out and give it all on the bike.
But looking now at the short term mission laid out at the top of this page I’m now getting myself ready to go out and kick butt just once more this year at Scherpenheuvel – Hapert, in Limberg on October 31. Officially, it’s a 90km point-to-point challenge for the 1,600-or-so people who ride it. But, racers being racers, all the local bikes shops send out their best riders to go there and nail it. Only for bragging rights, no race numbers, no prizes, just good old mano-a-mano in the mud.
I will show up with some strong riders by my side, too. It will be the first event where we will show off the Sprocket Scientist race kit. My posse will consist of Hans Nuyens, unofficial winner of last year’s event and my friend Mathieu Vandenbriel, an elite level road cyclist.
Thanks for reading and I will keep you posted on my preparation and general adventures in the next few weeks.