Chloe's Getting Dirty Again

This series continues the timeline from "Riding With Dirty Girls," and Chloe's other five cycling series'. You can probably get something out of the sex scenes in isolation, but for some background context, you should read (at least) "Riding With Dirty Girls" before this.

This is a work of fiction. A figment of the author's imagination. It is not meant to be big on realism. It's a fantasy. The culture around world-class women's cycling probably isn't a hotbed of lesbian lust, but wouldn't it be fun if it were?

All characters are fictitious, and any that are involved in sexual activities are over 18.

***

Chloe's Getting Dirty Again Pt.03

Belgian cyclocross races are often given names, usually in the Dutch language, which can be mildly amusing when translated. To Anglophone folk, Dutch can be quite an impenetrable language, and the meanings of the names can be obscure until you ask someone (most Dutch-speaking people also speak English, handily).

The Superprestige race at Merksplas was named the "Aardbeiencross," which you'd never guess means "Strawberry Cross." I think because the area is famous for growing them. From this point on, I'll just call it "Merksplas."

I was on the plane from Dublin to Brussels, the day before the race, and feeling a little emotional. Licia and I had had a parting that was, surprisingly, tearful. I was shocked by how powerful the feelings were, given that we'd see each other again in a couple of weeks.

I'd pulled myself together though, and had used the "dead" time after going through security to read up on the race, look at the map, and even watch a course preview vid.

Now, on the plane, I sat musing on that unexpectedly emotional parting.

My bond with her was getting stronger and stronger. We'd been together for almost a year now, and had spent a number of spells living together, in Scotland or Ireland. We were coupled. Two halves of a whole, and I'm sure our intense sex life had melded us together even more strongly.

We both have these wild, hedonistic sexual encounters with others, and would continue to do so, but they were different. Insouciant, casual, frivolous. They do bring a bonding, but its a free girl kind of bonding. I guess you could call it shallow.

I've always tried to keep my secondary sexual encounters to one night, and always said 'two nights on the trot starts to look like a relationship.' Thus, despite sometimes strong sexual attractions, I've succeeded in keeping them in a box. Isolated and confined. Just a bit of naughty, girly fun.

My relationship with Licia is very different. If two nights of sex starts to look like a relationship, what does ten or eleven nights (and sometimes days) look like? More importantly, what does it feel like? It transcends pure sex and conjures up stronger feelings. Not just lust, pleasure, enchantment, or even ecstasy. Something deeper and even more potent.

And then there's Molly.

She's more than a coach, more than a friend, more than a big sister, even. Because there's a sexual element to our relationship, our connection is... enhanced, I think.

Molly and I have been on a journey together, and it's been a multi-faceted journey. A spectacular sporting journey, for sure, but also a journey of growing friendship, and a sexual journey.

She's so many things to me; teacher, muse, sister, coach, hero, as well as sometimes lover.

She's immensely wise, always the first person I go to if I'm unsure about anything, invariably right, yet not at all bombastic or overbearing.

How can she be all this and irresistibly sexy too? She's a wonder.

I was flying to Brussels when Antwerp would have been more obvious, since it's closer to Merksplas, but I wanted to spend the night with Molly, rather than go to the team hotel. There wasn't going to be any sex this time (even I need a break, sometimes) but I wanted Molly's company.

She met me at the airport, as usual, and drove me back to Waregem and, as we cruised along the A10 autobaan at a leisurely 90kph, we chatted comfortably.

'How was your break in Ireland?' she asked. She knew it would have been a bit of a sex-fest, because we'd talked about that after a previous spell of living with Licia.

'It was good. We had a great time.' I looked at her and we smiled. Nothing more was needed.

'I hope you are not too tired for tomorrow.'

'No, I'm fine... Better than fine.'

'Did you stick to the plan when you were in Ireland?' She meant the training plan.

'Yeh, except for one day.'

'Oh, what happened then?'

'The plan called for a high-quality, 1 hour, sustained time-trial, but we did a handicap race instead.'

I told her about the race up the Sally Gap. 'That climb is roughly an hour anyway, and coming back was mostly easy leg-spinning.'

'Sounds like fun. We could do that at the start of a ride. My house to the top of the Koppenberg. I get 5 minutes and you chase me.' She grinned.

'Wait, I give the great Molly Koppen a 5-minute head start to race her from her house to the top of HER hill. The same hill where she's destroyed -- more than once -- the best riders in the world?'

'Yeah, why not? You're one of the best riders in the world now, and I'm (she put on a croaky voice) a very old lady...'

'Rubbish. You're still as fit as a butcher's dog.' She chuckled and wrinkled her nose at the expression, which she may not have heard before.

I thought for a minute. 'Koppenberg from your house is shorter than Sally Gap and has much less climbing. In fact, it only climbs right at the end. I think 3 minutes is all you're getting.'

'I think I need at least four...'

I'll give you three and a half. Final offer.'

'OK, we'll do it on Sunday.'

'When I'm tired from the race, you mean?' She just smirked.

We got in and set about a mandatory Molly stoofpot, and she started to tell me a bit about the Merksplas course and venue.

Apparently, the park where the race is held is part of a huge estate called the "Merksplas Kolonie," which used to be a "colony" -- or an open prison really -- for vagrants, during the years (before 1993) when vagrancy was illegal in Belgium. Hard to believe they thought making it a criminal offence was the best way to tackle homelessness.

Anyway, nowadays it has bars and restaurants, a museum, and a visitor centre, and is used to host various events, such as cyclocross.

Molly told me the course was set out on an area with not many natural obstacles, and not much elevation. 'It's field-cross, really, but it's trickier than you might expect. Apart from the usual plank barriers, and a flight of stairs, there are some weirdly creative turns where you have to drop into a ditch, make a sharp turn, then climb out again, and some places where the barrier layout forces you to make a turn on a tricky slope, with the ground dropping away from you. If it's wet, some of those turns become treacherous.'

'Yeh, I saw them on the course preview. They look interesting,' I said.

'Well they are certainly novel, I give them that, and rain is forecast for tomorrow, so it might get tricky.'

'No fear, I like tricky.'

'I know,' she smiled.

'What did you think of the European champs race, Mol?'

'Lucy played it all wrong...'

'That's what I said!'

'She should know better by now. She was just expecting Annamiek to magically come back to her. Arrogant really. Annamiek had a flying ride. Difficult, with all that sand, but she obviously has a talent for it.'

'And what about Tif, on the podium again, ten years after she won it.'

'Ah yes, Tif. Did you know Mari called her?'

'NO! What happened? Tell me, tell me.'

'I don't know. They went out for a drink together last night, but I haven't spoken to Mari yet.'

'Oh I hope something sparks between them,' I said 'Mari needs someone.'

She looked at me. 'I think she's pretty independent, actually, but I know what you mean. She's been hoping someone would come along.'

'Fingers crossed for them... Is Tif single?'

'I'm assuming so - she agreed to go out on a date -- but I don't know for certain until I talk with Mari. It's a bit odd that Mari hasn't sent me a text or anything. My guess is she's still with Tif.'

'Mm, nice. Does Tif live far away?'

'Not sure. Years ago she lived in Evergem, near Ghent, about 45k away but I don't know if she's still there.' She smiled to herself and her eyes took on a glazed look, like she were conjuring up a vision. 'Her house was a lovely windmill conversion. I remember her bedroom on the top floor. It was circular, with curved glass windows in the roof. A fantastic space.'

I looked at her and she refocussed. 'Molly... You... and Tif...?'

She nodded. 'Oh yes, we have history. About 3 years of it, actually.'

I had no idea. I'd never pried into her romantic history. I wondered how she felt about Marianne and Tif dating. 'Are you OK with Tif and Mari getting together?'

'Oh, of course. It was a long time ago. Mari doesn't know about it, though Tif will probably tell her... if they get that deep into each other's past, that is.'

I imagined Molly and Tif, when they were younger, and fierce rivals on the bike, and I wondered if that intense competition had brought them closer. That magical bonding that Licia had talked about between Lucy and me.

I'd experienced it with Lucy, and with Carmen. There's no doubt it's a powerful thing, and I thought that was probably what brought them together.

'You've gone quiet, Chloe. Have I stunned you to silence?' Molly asked.

'No, I was just thinking about the bonding that happens in racing, and how that effects lesbians. I've felt it with Lucy and with Carmen, and both times we ended up in bed.'

'Yeh, that was definitely a part of it with Tif and me... They were powerful, thrilling times, Chloe. You're lucky to still be in the midst of them,' she smiled.

She was right. 'Well I am trying to make the most of them, you know.' I laughed.

'Yeh, I think you are. Maybe not tonight though, hm?'

I shook my head. After the 10 days I'd just had, and a race the next day, sex definitely wasn't on the menu that night, and we just watched TV until ten, then went to bed -- in separate rooms.

***

Race Day

I slept very soundly, and woke up raring to go. I couldn't wait to get on the bike and RACE!

When we loaded the bikes onto the car, I was almost rubbing my hands with glee. My 10 days of hedonism with Licia definitely hadn't taken the edge off my vim and vigour, as I'd feared it might. In fact, I think it had put an edge on it. I was positively fizzing.

Merksplas is in the extreme north of Belgium, close to the Dutch border, and more than 2-hours drive from Molly's house, so we were making a relatively early start. Fanny arrived, but there was no sign of Marianne as the departure time approached.

Then, Molly's phone pinged. She looked at it, humphed, and shook her head. 'Mari isn't coming. She's travelling there with Tif...' Fanny and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows, but Molly just got into the driving seat. We shut the tailgate, jumped in, and we were off.

'Well, I guess we got our answer about whether Tif and Mari hit it off.' I said.

'I guess so,' said Molly, rather tersely.

'You OK, Mol?' I probed.

'Yeah, I just wish the text had been a bit earlier. She knew what time we were leaving.'

We were actually OK for time, so it didn't really matter, but I couldn't help noticing that Molly seemed a little irked. Maybe it was just the last-minute text, or maybe there was a hint of angst about the past. I noticed Fanny put her hand on her leg as we sped north.

The rain started before Ghent, and the autobaan became a howling grey tunnel of swirling spray as we overtook a seemingly endless line of lorries. This wasn't the first rain, either. It had also been raining during the night, so we knew it was going to be a mudbath.

I was unperturbed by it -- I go well in the mud -- and I knew Fanny would be looking forward to bike changes every lap, and giving the jetwash a good workout.

I looked at the latest start list on my phone. There were 43 riders on the list, and I saw that, once again, there was no Femke, or Carmen, but a bigger surprise was that Lucy had disappeared from the list. Tif was there (of course) and Leona, but other than them, I didn't really see any big threats, even with Annamiek giving her Euro jersey its first outing.

Hang on, Chloe. Don't make the same mistake Lucy made, I chided myself. You never know who will go well on the day, and Annamiek had already sprung one surprise.

We arrived at the venue in torrential rain, and we sat in the car for a while, hoping it would ease off. 'The forecast says it will dry,' said Fanny with a shrug.

Suddenly, the door opened and a slightly breathless Marianne jumped in the back seat with me in full waterproofs.

'Ahh, there you are,' grinned Molly, 'the elusive one.'

'Oh girls, I've had a fantastic time. Tif... she's... Well, I'll tell you later. Are you ready, Chloe?'

'What, for the race, or your story about Tif...?' I teased, and she smirked.

'Yes, I'm buzzin' I said, 'I can't wait to get going.'

We got out of the car, and the rain had either reduced, or just didn't seem so bad once we were out in it. Molly and Fanny donned full waterproofs and those nifty short wellies with studs - perfect for pit crew on a muddy day -- while I put on my racing kit with my lightweight rain suit over it.

The organisers had provided an area, sheltered under a canopy, where you could set up rollers and warm up in the dry, but I wanted to look at the course, so I just grabbed a bike and headed off, leaving Team Lyon to set up in the pits.

There was a nice little gap between the end of the Men's U23 race and the start of the Elite Women's, so I easily had time for a couple of laps, and I hardly noticed the rain as I ripped round the course, passing people all the way and having a whale of a time.

It was a rum course though. Like Molly had said, it was basically a field course, but the fiendishly designed obstacles were tricky and testing, and there was a wiggly section through some woods, where there were trees actually on the course. They were well wrapped in foam padding, but still not something you'd want to hit at speed.

There was one section of artificially laid sand, which was hard to ride, but the course was mostly fast, which suited me fine. The mud, though slippery, was not deep, and I found I could keep up a fast, flowing pace. I liked it. It was an enjoyable course.

After two laps, I came into the pits, with a liberal coating of mud, and handed my bike over to Fanny Jetwash's tender mercies. I stripped off my rain suit, and wiped my face on a towel so that I didn't look so spattered on my front row close-ups, then grabbed a clean bike and headed to the start.

I found out from Olga that Lucy had decided to skip this race, in favour of the "Flandriencross," an X2O Trofee race at Hamme the next day. With her win at the Koppenbergcross, she was leading the X2O series, so had decided to prioritise that, over the Superprestige.

So, that was one less rival to worry about, but I was feeling so good that I wouldn't have been worried anyway. It was one of those days where I just knew I was going to fly.

I posed with Annamiek before the start, showing off the World Champion's and European Champion's colours, then we lined up with Leona, Lauren, Maisie, Märta, and a grinning Tif. I wondered what had made her look so happy... Not really, I knew perfectly well.

There was a very long hold before the start, while the officials realigned a couple of barriers, and I observed that the rain had stopped, for now. It had already done its work though, and all that lovely fresh mud was just waiting for us.

Green lights. GO!

The straight led into a tight right onto cobbles, which I knew would be tricky, and I chose the leftmost line, so I could smooth out the turn as much as possible, and I slotted into third spot as the sharp end of the field streamed through in single file.

Annamiek led, obviously flushed with her recent success, with Leona on her wheel, and I was content to follow them through the initial fast, flowing bends. The pace was not too stretching, and I was well within myself as Annamiek showed off the colours, and the skills that had won them for her.

Through the first weird double-back through a ditch, I saw that I had Tif on my wheel, and that we four were already inching away from those behind.

Into the woods, and we flick-flacked from side to side, dodging the trees as the track meandered, before plunging suddenly down a little descent and onto a fast straight section on a path with thin mud and leaf mulch, alongside a water-filled dyke.

Just like the previous weekend, Annamiek's bike-handling was impressive. Her lines through the corners were spot on, and she was super-smooth when we had to dismount and run up the flight of stairs.

We approached the plank barriers (more like railway sleepers in this case) and, as I'd half-expected, she bunny hopped over them on the bike, Lize Pieper style. I followed Leona and jumped off, as I always do.

Licia had been trying to perfect the bunny hop technique and was encouraging me to adopt it, but I wasn't enthusiastic and, to be honest, the time gained is insignificant really.

As we approached the pits for the first time, I thought about a bike change, but we hadn't yet done a full lap, and the bike didn't seem to be carrying much mud yet. Neither Annamiek nor Leona went in, so neither did I. Tiff followed suit and the four of us remained together.

We crossed the line in a bunch, with a 7 second gap over a second quartet of Lauren, Maisie, Märta, and Olga.

It was on the fast section along the side of the dyke that Leona made a move. She accelerated into the lead, and the pace went up noticeably as Annamiek tried to respond, and dragged me and Tif with her.

I was still feeling fairly comfortable, and Leona wasn't opening much of a gap, so I sat tight, for now.

We approached the pits again, and this time it was bike changes all round. As usual, Molly had the clean bike, and Marianne prepared to receive the dirty one, while Fanny stood by with the jetwash.

As I approached our pit, Tif was behind me, and that was obviously too distracting for Mari. As I jumped off, she missed grabbing the bike and dropped it. It didn't matter to me, I just jumped straight onto the clean bike and rode on, but it showed how bedazzled with Tif she already was.

Next time across the line, Leona had 5 seconds over Annamiek, me, and Tif, with the next chasing group 18 seconds adrift of us.

Leona was slowly prising open a gap, and Annamiek didn't seem able to hold her. I still had plenty in reserve, so I was just wondering when I should make my move.

The next bike change went seamlessly (I could imagine that Molly had given Mari a bit of a "pep talk") and the situation was almost unchanged. Leona had a gap, but it didn't seem unclosable, and I was still sitting between Annamiek and Tif.

I waited until lap 4 (of 6), then decided to attack just before the wiggly section through the trees I knew my two companions both had good bike-handling skills, but I was also confident I had the most power.

There was a pair of padded trees at one point, and we'd been passing them on the left each lap, so as we approached them I went right and accelerated. Tif followed me, and as we plunged down onto the dyke-side path we were in front.

Annamiek didn't seem to have much response to my kick, she must have been close to her limit, but Tif made a determined effort to stay with me. Along the fast path I gradually wound up the pace until she cracked, and then pulled away.

Lucy had been right. Tif didn't quite have her old level - hard to do at 37, I guess - and I rode off in pursuit of Leona.