For local cyclocross racers Molly Cameron and Erik Tonkin, the “holidays” consisted of a grueling schedule of races against the best talent in the world, thousands of miles from home. They both just returned from an action-packed trip to Belgium where they experienced all the drama and difficulty of world class bicycle racing.
Luckily for us, Molly and Erik are both great writers and they shared in-depth perspectives from the road.
Photo ©: Brecht Decaluwé/Cyclingnews.com
Molly kept her many fans abreast of her “royal ass kicking from the Belgians” on her blog at MollyCameron.com and with a report on the locally produced Race Cyclocross! blog. Here’s how she described her first race of the trip:
“I was getting in my own way. I felt disappointed and embarrassed. But, that is racing I guess….The race pushed me past my comfort zone and exposed me to a brutal level of skill…That is why I am over here.”
Erik is known for his detailed and insightful race reports and I’m amazed at what he can write after being so exhausted from racing. This was his fourth trip to Belgium as part of an American “training camp,” and Erik — who is well-loved in Portland — has managed to amass a Euro-fan club. Turns out the Belgians love his caveman charisma as much as we do.
His reports were posted to the OBRA email list and he even wrote a diary entry for CyclingNews.com which also had a bunch of good photos of him in action.
Here are Erik’s race reports:
Welcome back Molly and Erik. Thanks for so valiantly representing Portland on the world racing scene.
Thanks for reading.
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Erik is my humble hero! Looks like the Sint Niklaas crew knows a class act when they see it too.
Peter