Luxembourg and Diegem - Creux Velowear

After a few lazy days after New Years, we decided to head to a Luxembourg for a few days. It’s been really nice to mix up the scenery a bit and finally ride up some proper hills again. I’ve strung together some really tough training days which should hopefully put me in good form for the Hoogeheide World Cup on the 20^th. 

It can be difficult to really push yourself when it’s 2 degrees, windy and dead flat. Hill climbing is probably my favourite aspect of riding a bike, so I’ve been loving the opportunity to put myself through some pain. 

 

Luxembourg reminds me a lot of New Zealand. The forests are bright green with moss covering the space between giant pine trees. There were some amazing views from the many dirt and tarmac roads we explored on. 

 

Whilst the highest point wasn’t much more than 400m above sea level, the climbs were bloody steep, with plenty lasting around 10 minutes. We did a few longer rides, both on little single lane roads, fire roads and the occasional single track (old walking trails).

 

There were some ruins of an old castle in the next town along the river from us.

Apart from a few elderly people, there was barely anyone out and about. Although apparently Luxembourg is packed with Belgian and Dutch tourists in summer. 

 

Here are some shots from the lovely Sonoko Tanaka at Diegem Superprestige. You can read about the race and the Kerst Periode as a whole on a guest post for Cycling Tips. It was bloody hard work! But I also got a drawing from a young fan which was very cool.

We’re back in home now, and I’m feeling fairly wrecked. Only a few races to go before I head off to the USA for Worlds!

Creux Cycling Streetwear

I first came across Creux clothing when working at St Kilda Cycles. Casual cycling clothing isn’t anything new, but their gear grabbed my attention because it actually looks like clothing I would normally wear. I now own 4 t shirts, a hoodie, the bomber jacket and a pair of shorts of theirs. The gear is made to be functional on the bike, but wearable out and about. I’m being completely honest when I say this stuff is awesome. I’ve worn their gear to uni pretty much every day during semester. The t shirts and hoodie wick sweat away after my commute, and don’t leave me smelling like body odour in class. The bomber jacket is probably the highlight. Good looks aside, its wind and water proof and even has a mud flap to prevent your bum from getting wet when riding in the rain. Their shorts look just like normal shorts, but have a light and subtle chamois sown into the bum to give some extra comfort for longer commutes. 

I've used this photo before, but it's a nice one...

Creux have just released a new line of merino t shirts as well as new shorts and jeans and apparently they’re even better than their old stuff (including water resistant stretch denim!). I’ll be stocking up before I take off to Berlin next year. 

The new merino t shirt

You can buy them online at http://www.creuxcycling.com/ or in stockists world wide. Pop down to St Kilda Cycles to check them out.

I'm tossing up racing a Club World Champs on Sunday, but either way I'll be racing in Otegem UCI C2 on Monday.