The Big move...

It’s almost two weeks since I packed up my life as I knew it and drove myself across the channel to the country best known for waffles, beer, frites and of course cycling, and to be honest it all still feels like a dream!

If you’d have asked me 18 months ago where I’d be now, I certainly wouldn’t have said living in a team house in Belgium cycling full time! In 2016 I suffered a rare side effect of medication prescribed by my GP, this caused my leg muscles to break down, essentially, they wasted away. There had been signs for a couple of months, but finally getting a diagnosis in spring 2017 was bittersweet, I had a reason for my drop in performance, but they couldn’t tell me if I would recover fully or even ride a bike again, at that stage I could barely climb the stairs without pain! It was the toughest summer of my life, but with the help of Family & Friends I enjoyed the things I couldn’t normally do when in training. It was fun, but it didn’t fill the hole that cycling had left. I missed the training, the races and my friends. Finally, in September 2017, almost a year on I was given the news I’d hoped for, my muscles had begun to recover, I could start training again, slowly! It was going to be a long road back to fitness and strength, but it’s certainly taught me some lessons!

So, here I am, living in Oudenaarde, a small town in Belgium, with other girls from the team. There are 5 of us here full time (3 in one room, 2 in another) and other team members will come and go throughout the season. We get on well, we shop together and cook some of our meals together. Last week we rode to France, Roubaix, of course we visited the iconic Velodrome whilst there. It was a solid ride in the bag,

I banked a few more miles towards the Cycling Weekly 5000-mile challenge that I’m taking part in this year, (more info on the challenge later in another post) I’m currently concentrating on hitting my March challenges. On our rest day this week, we decided to pop to Lille for a bit of site seeing, and what a gorgeous city it was.

I knew from the beginning that this experience would be a challenge, living away from home, cooking for myself, shopping, budgeting. I have grown up a fair amount in the last two weeks! It’s things like ensuring you have post-race food ready (Belgium shops are closed Sundays) and being on top of your washing etc, small things that you don’t always think of, but so far so good. Of course, I have been homesick, but keeping busy helps, and FaceTime is great!

Since moving to Belgium, I have raced twice, having moved up a category this year from Junior to U23/elite I knew it would be a big step up, and wow, it really was! The races have been a bit more challenging due to some big races being cancelled because of Corona Virus (such as the Strade-Bianche). This has meant larger fields as bigger, higher-level teams have attended the Kermesses, add the famous Belgium weather to the mix and it’s safe to say the first races have been tough. I’ve not stood on the start line with 120+ riders before, but I’m pleased with how I have felt, and yes, of course I’ve felt frustrated when the tank runs out, but I’m here to learn and experience these bigger races with older women, and that’s what I aim to do, as often as I can.

Every race day is a new day, new things to learn and take away from the experience. If you take one thing away from every race you do, you’re doing well (cheesy but true ;)

A big thank you must go to the incredible Rayner Foundation for giving me this opportunity and allowing me to learn from this invaluable experience.

Till next time :)