Keir Plaice Learns More Lessons in Belgium

Keir Plaice, is living and racing in Holland this season. This past Sunday he raced in Kattekoers, a Belgian race featuring a climb up the Kemmelberg. Plaice took the time to send us a few words about this racing experience.

“The race start and change rooms were at a soccer stadium and the parking lot was full of team cars and buses from all of the Belgian continental professional teams. Inside there were heaps of people sitting around smoking and drinking coffee and beer. There was an extra energy surrounding the event. Again the racing was fast and chaotic, the roads were not in as good shape as in the Netherlands but less littered with traffic furniture. People lined the streets in every town we went through. I was more comfortable racing this Sunday, realizing that I just need to relax and race on instinct.”

“Coming into Iepers (Ypres) was an amazing, breathtaking moment. A few kilometers before town the racing really hotted up and was going crazy as we entered town. The decisive circuits would soon begin and everyone wanted to be at the front. We came flying into the city at 55km an hour, rattling over the cobbles and into an absolute roar of sound. There were thousands and thousands of people in the city center, all there for the bike race. It was a spectacular arena. That experience was surreal but fleeting and the racing continued as intensive as ever. What became apparent was that this was the most important race that I had ever done in my life. Unfortunately in a small town later my chances were shot as I followed the slow side of the peloton at a traffic circle and lost my good position. On the tiny roads that proceeded there wasn’t space to get forward again. The circuit had a series of climbs leading up to the Kemmelberg and on each the peloton accelerated very hard then relaxed and bunched up across the road. Eventually the elastic snapped ahead of me and I found myself in a group separated from the running. I rode the Kemmelberg in this chase group and again experienced something pretty special. Turning left into a wall of cobbles lined with cheering Flandrians, the angelic monument poking through the trees above, was enough to give you goosebumps. We descended straight down the Kemmelberg and continued for 15 kilometers before getting the eind wedstrijd notice, our race called and only the disappointing ride back to Iepres for an early shower remaining.”

“There is certainly some frustration in losing not for a lack of strength but for failing to get myself to the right place for the critical moments of the race. That is bike racing however and if I remain committed it will come, this is the most exhilarating racing I have ever experienced and I love it. Next Sunday I will do the Meeus Race, a U23 competition in Lierop, Nord-Brabant. Again the aim is to continue on a forward trajectory and hopefully make some opportunities for myself.”