Somebody asked me the otherday what I do here in a day. While, theres always something to look forward to or there is always something exciting happening in a day at the Cycling Center. However, I will describe one of my race days.
I usually wake up at eight o'clock to the sounds of pots and pans clanging together in the kitchen next to my room. I have three other roommates, all of them with full bladders upon awakening, so the toilet is the finish line in the process of waking up. I then walk to my pantry in zombie mode and pour in some of the Delhaze muesli in my oversized bowl. The house goes through fads, especially in food, from pancakes to brocolli, each one trying to get the best price. When I got here, the house was sought of going through a vanilla soya milk phase, which died down alot, but stayed with me. I love soy milk no, its all I drink, chocolate for my recoveries, vanilla for my cereal and plain for everything else. Someone is always playing music on the Ipod speakers. The most played artist in the house is Johnny Cash; I think I know every word out of every song of his by now. The kitchen is always full in the morning, a combination of chaos and different smells. Thats why I have cereal in the morning; so that I don't have to race for a stove plate to cook my food. If it is a race day, I try ro stuff my face with food, mostly fruit and always oats. After breakfast I race for the laundry machine to make sure that my clothes get washed first. Everything in the house becomes a race eventually, from the kitchen stove, to the toilets, to the laundry machines and even to lan cables in the common room. There are two laundry machines and two drying machines, so theres a definite competitive streak among the twenty guys in the house that want there clothes clean. Everything needed for the race is prepared the day before, from pre race food, to my bikes cables. Bernard is extremely strict on our organization. So I pack my bag the day before, making sure I have absolutely everything, and then checking it for a fourth time. I wash my bike, which is another competition, to see who's bike is the cleanest. So far Aaron is the best at that (I'll try and take a picture of his bike, it's incredible). I check that everything works, pump my tires, lube the chain and finally polish it with a clean rag, which becomes a race to, with all the rags filthy black from previous chain scrubbings. Usually before a race we have a team meeting with Bernard, about everything. Usually they go on for about an hour, with most of the conversation being placed on how important it is to be in the top thirty of the peloton during the whole race.
I then head off to make my bed aand then have another fruit, then head straight for my laptop. The common room is surprisingly quiet, all the time. Each persons face glowing in front of the flashing LCD in front of them. This goes on forever, our laptops are our only way to get a hold of home. Waking up and seeing the same people every single day can be hard, so most of the guys here sit for hours emailing and chatting via skype to their family and friends back home. The weather here is shit , of which only a small amount is ever sunny. So we try to go once a week to the ancient town of Brugge. Sitting in front of my laptop I email, email, email, and read all the latest news in the pro tour.
Half an hour before we leave for the race, we pack the van. If it is a UCI, the team cars and vans are usually packed for us the previous day. If it is a kermis, then we pack the red van ourselves before we leave. On the way to a kermis, which is usually close to us, we argue over which is the right direction according to the map. We usually know we've arrived when we see a hundred Belgians surrounding a packed pub spewing smoke out every window. After the race, we get on our warm clothes, even during warm weather, avoiding sickness as much as possible. Usually nobody speaks on the way home, unless it was a really good race.
We unpack the van, hang our bikes on the hooks with our names glued to it. We then wash our clothes and head to make supper. This part is hard because you're hungry enough to eat a donkey and tired enough to give up and go to sleep, so you sit in front of the stove with red eyes waiting for the food to finish cooking amongst the chaos of the kitchen. Then wash dishes, and race for a place in the common room for the hour of Simpsons that comes on every singleday of the week. Ten o'clock approaches and everybody retreats to their rooms. Nobody talks after a race, especially if it is a night Kermis, where we get home at twelve o'clock and half fall asleep in the shower. Usually after a UCI, the excitement of the crowds and the sugar of the race food pumps through your blood, so you might join a group of guys who can't sleep in the kitchen at night, waiting for the infinite amount of energy to die down.
And thats a basic kermis day, usually on other days, we do our shopping at the Delhaze or the Super GB, and swarm the bicycle shop replacing worn parts. So the days might become monotinous, but you're always so focused on the next race and your training that you're never bored, plus with all the cleaning, cooking and shopping, you don't really have the time to complain.
Thats about all I can think of in a typical kermis day.
