Blogs
Tue, 24 Aug 2010
My time in Belgium, racing in Germany, and my van!
By Gabby Day - Horizon Fitness Racing Team
I was looking forward to the Albstadt 3-day race, and was looking forward to racing with the Horizon Fitness girls again and being part of the team.
Unfortunately, things did not go to plan for me… I travelled to Belgium on Tuesday ready for the race. I picked Penny up on my way, and we set off to the Euro tunnel. We made good time and it was good to have Penny as my company for the journey as she kept me entertained! We got on an earlier tunnel and were looking forward to getting to the team house in Tielt Winge.
The journey came to an anticlimax about 30 minutes from Tielt, when we were involved in a car crash. A car crashed into the side of my door and smashed the wheel out. It was a massive shock and I couldn’t stop shaking. I have never been involved in a crash before, and not only that but I had trashed my new van that I had got just 3 weeks ago. Luckily Penny and myself were not hurt – I had just hurt my neck. After a couple of hours sorting stuff out and dealing with the Belgium police, my van was towed away and Penny and I were taken to Tielt. The next day I did a little spin to get my legs moving and hopefully ready for the race.
The team travelled to Albstadt in Germany on Friday. It was a long trip but we were heading into lovely sunshine and leaving grey, wet Belgium, so all was good!
The first race was a 19km crit so was very nippy! It was ok but not great for me - my neck was very sore which was not helping. It was a good workout all the same. The next day was a hilly 84km race. It went better for me and I ended up in a little group with Annie, which was nice - we worked well together. It is always good to have a team mate with you.
My neck was still causing me some issues, but I was determined to battle on for the final day. But me neck got the better of me and I climbed off after an hour of hard racing.
Overall, it was a good time away with the Horizon Fitness team and we had some great weather and food!
I am now awaiting news of my van, but it is not sounding good. Belgians are so slow at deciding what is what… in the meantime I will just have to get on with training and getting my neck back to full working order!
Gabby x
For more information about the Horizon Fitness Racing Team, visit www.onthedrops.com.