What is it about cycling that makes me feel happy?

When I get on my bike and hit the road, something changes inside my head. After about 10 to 20 minutes I get into the zone. My brain makes a leap in time. I become the guy I was 30 years ago. The rookie who believed everything is possible.  I see the same thing happen to other riders as well. My dad for instance, nearly 80 years old, gets that sparkle in his eyes, when he is on his bike. Looking at me, like he is going to ride me into oblivion. No way in hell, but his mind plays this trick on him in the same way it makes me believe I still can make it to the top. Keep dreaming, but it is part of the fun of riding your bike. Being something different then you really are, but then again…who knows?!

So, 20 minutes into my ride, they start, the voices in my head. No, it’s not a medical condition, it’s just happens. Most of the time they are the voices of the Belgium Sporza television commentators, Wuyts and De Cauwer. They start chatting about the weather, the way the wind blows, that sort of things. And after a while they begin there talk about the race. What happened before, how it is, that I ended up in the lead, on my own. That is always the case, when I ride alone, I have escaped the bunch early on. No doubt about it, I having a super day. Then Michel tells the listeners some back ground about me and José will add some obscure info he learnt before the race.

The funny thing is, I’m always me. Not some pro, past or present, but always myself. A younger version of course, but it’s me, that’s racing to fame and glory. It gets interesting when Renaat Schotte joins the party. He is the guy on the motor. Getting the other two up to speed from directly behind me. He or André Meganck is measuring time differences between me and the peloton. I am rider and the public all into one. To the end of my ride, the race in my head gets starts to develop into an “Is he going to make it to the end?” scenario. Renaat is counting down my advantage I have/had on the peloton. But in the end I always win the race! “This guy is going places” cries Michel Wuyts.

After the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) 2013, things started to change. I was no longer that rookie on the bike anymore. Somehow Chris Horner’s victory things changed. I don’t need to be the rookie anymore to win my imaginary races. I can do it as this old man I became. Age is no longer an obstacle for winning my races! José and Michel tell the world that you can do this if you are carefully plan your career on the bike and believe in ones self’s. So, these days I win my races as the smart old fox I have become. Riding around with a big smile on my face, like I own the world. And I am very happy…