154 days to go

I am planning to go to Nederland in June (leaving on the 10th) for a cycling holiday. I have dreamed of cycling in Nederland since I started cycling about 7 years ago. The objective is to go and have fun on some of the roads where the world’s top cyclist fight out some of the most prestigious races every spring. To make the trip worthwhile, I am going to need to be fit and lean. I need to at least look like a cyclist and I’m working to get in shape and even starving myself, for a cyclist that means eating only slightly more than other people.

I’ll be visiting my good friend Rik and we will attempt to also see nice stuff and not just ride our bikes, but ride our bike, we will. So far the plan is as follow.

Saturday - Nuenen and Cyclocross
Sunday – riding near Hulst
Monday – Paris with the TGV
Tuesday – riding in Zeeland
Wednesday - sightseeing
Thursday – riding in Ardennes
Friday – riding in Limburg
Saturday - sightseeing and Cyclocross
Sunday – Amsterdam

As is clear from the plan, cycling is a big part of the holiday, so apart from starving myself, I am also planning to some more cycling and a faster pace, in the coming months than in the years since my crash, which is almost 3 years ago. Starting this Saturday I will be riding 5 days a week with one long ride each weekend. This weekend my long ride will be the Babbas Lodge race (70km offroad). I’m not really planning to race, but I know myself well enough to realize that I will most likely get involved in things once I’m there.