Month: December 2005

Oh my god that was hard. Thankfully, even the top guys consider it one of the toughest. The sand is long and deep and then wet and mucky, and the course is short. We did 10 laps, the leaders doing just around 6min. per lap. I’m happy to say that I survived on the lead lap, though just barely.

I was, I think, the last guy to make it through. Wicks was the next guy in front of me, at the start of the last lap probably far less than a minute up. However, our last lap was goofy because the course was choked with spectators, so I had to go pretty easy, just kind of riding it. I don’t know what that did to my final time, but I know that I was about 6min. down at the start of the last lap. Page was in front of Wicks before one to go, went into the pit and declared that he was done, but was convinced to finish the race. I must have passed him in the finish chute because he rolled in after me, so he must have been the last official rider on the lead lap….I botched the start, letting myself get out-muscled before the gun went off and then missing my pedal. I was nearly last of 66 riders around the first turn, then got stuck behind a crash and had to run up both of the course’s early hills. Pathetic.

I couldn’t even see Ryan and Barry and Page; Jon Baker was 20 spots ahead; and only Powers (I love Jeremy–great kid) was close. I’m good at damage control, so I waited to move up until the most efficient time, which was the first sand section and after. I got to the forties and kept plugging away at it, just slacked-jawed, cross-eyed and both drooling and snotting. After a few laps I was surprised that I had come to just 15sec. behind Wicks and Page, but that was as close as I could get to them. By the midpoint, I was with the guys I would ultimately slug it out with, and first Page and then Wicks moved just out of sight but still close. I could see that Ryan was maybe in the top 20 at that point….Ryan is the real deal, with all the power necessary to get to the top. If he sticks with it he’ll probably gain the experience and hone the skill he’ll need for the future.

Page is the real deal. Barry is, too, but he still has work to do. I was essentially with those two today, and I had lots stacked against me, so that I’m proud of. However, I don’t think I’m the real deal. On the other hand, perhaps if I really pursued it over here for a few more years, I could get to another lever that would be beyond respectable. Respectable is where I’m at now. It’s important to keep in mind that this is crunch time over me, and that’s the Belgians talking. This is when all the top guys are riding their absolute fastest, so to at least finish a World Cup held on one of the tougest courses, on the leader’s lap, is “not bad”, as we say in MN….The racing is intense.

It’s hard to tell if you’re feeling good, at least it is for me. Right now, I really don’t feel like myself. But then, I haven’t been riding this hard all year. I mean, I’m with a group of about 5 guys late in the race, and we’re just murdering each other as if a big win is on the line. We’re crashing into each other, taking ourselves out, all the while battling to not get lapped. I swear, you’re never just “riding it in”….I proved to have a little more, but whether or not it was power or resolve, I’m not sure. Some of the guys over here tend to let up if they are close to getting lapped, either saving it for another day or, perhaps, bowing to the best. Not me. When I could feel Nijs’ presence behind me, I turned it on. I had been dropped by my group, but I found another gear and rode the last half lap as fast as the race leaders, going by the four guys in front of me and then, as I’ve said, catching Page. I don’t stop racing until I’m forcibly removed from the course. Nuts to that….The crowd was, in our Belgian handlers own word, “UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE”. So freaking many people. I’m so glad many know me and cheer me on. Not everybody gets that. First, you have to be in there. They’ll ignore anybody who clearly can’t hang. Next, you have to give them a reason to support you, whether it’s being friendly and approachable at your team’s van, handing out trading cards, looking different, etc. I think I have all those covered. But finally, they like to have a favorite who is THEIR favorite. Kinda like how I’m a Green Bay fan no matter what. The first place guy isn’t everything. In my very fortunate case, some of the crowd has really latched on to me over that past three seasons, and the same crew comes out to watch all the races every year, and then its size grows every year, and that’s not even half of it–I’m too embarassed by it all to go on. Suffice it to say, the support from some of the Belgian fans makes me think that I’m not wasting my time and money after all. Well, until the next race, the GVA at Loenhout. Some say it’s the biggest race in Belgium. Crazy. –Erik

Hey there from Belgium. So, as some know, I was shitty sick just after Nats, and left for Belge in its throes. I have improved but don’t feel like I usually do when I get here. Mostly, the trouble comes from taking over a week off the bike. I tried to train here on Wed thru Fri, and I got some good efforts in, but I knew that the first race would be ugly. I hoped that it would open me up for the future races rather than ruin me. It’s dicey when ill.

So as expected, given’er, as they say, didn’t come easy! I didn’t feel good—not once—during the race, and I even puked (which is so rare for me. That said, I was clearly riding pretty fast and even have the TV coverage to prove it. I started third row or so, lost some ground early, but made it all back up in one muddy chicane. On the second lap, I was with a small group not far behind a larger group. I worked so very hard to bridge, leaving my group behind, going across solo over the next lap and a half. I soon realized the group I was chasing was racing for the top twenty, and it contained, from what I could tell, Trebon, Page, Commeyne (sp?), Vannoppen (sp?), etc.

I was feeling terrible, but I figure it was because I hadn’t raced for a while, and, besides, I suppose it wasn’t an easy effort to catch guys like those twenty minutes into the race. Then, I dangled for a lap, a few other guys got there, and the group really stretched out. I was pretty proud because I had never stayed so close to the front in such a big race for such a long time. But it was short lived. Red-lined, I drifted just a bit off the best line on a gravelly turn, slid to the outside of the course, clipping a thorny hedgerow. Initially, I saved it, but as I stepped on the gas to free myself from the mess, I got stuck and went right over the bars. Obviously, I lost the group.

My next lap was poor, and a few guys caught me. I stayed in a decent rhythm for the rest of the race, catching a few guys who lost the group I was in, but also yielding a few spots to my chasers. I think I was 37^th, less than 30 seconds behind five guys and pretty close to most of the guys who were in the group. Nobody was close behind, just a big gap. Last year I finished 27^th in the same race (I think), but I was only 30sec faster, riding a clean race. So, not too bad. I hope I’ll feel better on Monday. Ryan, by the way, flatted in a bad spot while in 15^th (he had left that group behind, I think), fading to 25^th. Baker hung in to finish on the lead lap. Powers had a bit of bike trouble and got lapped. Page dropped out. Barry didn’t start because he arrived today, his flight being delayed two days. The big news is that junior Bjorn Selander finished 8^th but with the leaders, using a borrowed bike that was way too big for him. That kid is good. Well, that’s my story for today. More later if McGrath lets me borrow his laptop again.