Recovery day, nice and easy

Boy I needed an easy day today, but I could have done with sunny and warm instead of cool and wet.

Did one of my easy canal rides today, 2 hours 60k, I can't say that my legs actually hurt but they are empty so the only good thing about today's weather was the wind was very light, so I was able to keep the legs turning over mostly in the active recovery range.

Being wet it was pretty quiet along the canal, well it was until bearing down on me out of the drizzle was a very purposeful group on TT bikes followed by a team car, they were past me in a flash, but I read the logo's on the team car easily enough, Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator, so I assumed it was the team practising for a TTT or maybe the feeder sqaud.

Wrong, on my way back they were stopped having some work done to a bike, so I stopped and blagged a tool to secure the mounting of my SRM which had worked loose crossing the cobbles in yesterdays race. Chatting to the manager? it turns out that it was the Belgian U23 team and sure enough as the riders pulled away I finally noticed that the group was 4 lads and 3 girls, last seen flying through the murk at a great rate of knots.

Added a bit of interest.to a pretty flat day.

A bit of shopping this afternoon, some new batteries for my camera, some gels and some more fruit. Of course I had to clean my bike yet again, it lives in my room and I don't like to bring in when its dirty, so it had to be cleaned first.

I was thinking about yesterdays race during the ride today and decided that the course was almost a mini (very mini) tour of Flanders, hills, corners cobbles all coming thick and fast. I was also thinking and wondering how many of my peer group would have enjoyed that particular course.

With all the free time I have here I have been wondering whether I should start a coaching service for Veterans. I've been a pretty good coach over the years with all the paper qualifications earlier on but of course its all changed since I came back to racing. I've worked with some top coaches recently who have even been 'Masters' racers themselves but in truth its been so difficult to establish what is realistic for older Vets to expect of themselves. So I think with all the research and experimentation that I have carried out, I am very well placed to help the older vet. I could do programmes, recovery, diet, supplementation etc etc. Anyway I'm still thinking on that one, watch this space.