Apr 27, 1:31 PMGarmin Edge 830Arne
In Dutch we have this beautiful saying: “in het sukkelstraatje zitten.”
“Sukkelen” translates to struggling, and “straatje” means little street. So being in het sukkelstraatje is like being stuck in a phase where things just don’t quite go your way, a stretch of time filled with small annoyances, minor illnesses, or simply the feeling that you’re not at your best.
As a cyclist, that’s exactly where you don’t want to be. And yet… I’ve been stuck in the little sukkelstreet for about a year now.
Last summer I had surgery on my iliac artery, followed by months of recovery. Then, after a winter of solid training, breaking all my power PRs, I managed to fold myself into a Kia Picanto at the end of February and break a few bones. Fast forward to now: recovered, motivated, and ready to finally restart my road season this weekend. Only to wake up sick yesterday. Nothing dramatic, just a nasty cold. But you know the feeling: enough to mess up your ability to race and put a dent in your fitness.

So yes, I’m very much still in the little sukkelstreet.
But we keep the head up. So I spent my sick day on the couch, doing what you can do best when sick as a cyclist: browsing for new bike components while watching Seixas push Pogačar to the limit on La Redoute. There are worse ways to be ill.
Somewhere between Pog doing 9 w/kg on la Redoute and me on the couch I found the right upgrade the TT setup. A 56T single-speed chainring and an improved cockpit are now on the way.
Because alongside road racing, I want to focus more on time trials this year. It should suit my power profile. I just need to engineer a properly competitive TT bike 🤓
And yes, it’s still a rim brake bike. Anyone who knows me knows I’m (more than) fine with that.

I’ll keep you posted on Grassdune, racing, TT adventures, and everything cycling - or not cycling - related.
Cheers!
Comments
"Struggle street" translates well as an English idiom, too. Hope you feel better soon, I enjoyed this life update meets cycling update style of post.
I have a lot of rim brake TT bike components that are pretty quick... very keen to follow the bike build!
Parts arriving this week, they will require some DIYing though😂 Keeping you posted @hayleyrsimmonds!
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