Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Hofstada

Today was the world ucp race in Hofstada, near brussels. We drove over there in relative comfort, as we upgraded this year from a Voyager minivan, to a huge Sprinter van. It is sweet. The course was pretty much the same as it always is, maybe a little easier in the parts that are not the beach, but the beach is still by far the defining feature. I am still felling pretty wiped out from this head cold I have been battling, so I decided to take the start, but not really push it as I want to save some gas for the ramainder of the races. It was pretty amusing riding in the back at the start watching all the chaos. Guys were going bezerk trying to pass each other, and would then get balled up in the subsiquent turn. After the dust settled I was chillin pretty near the back, unfotunatly with most of the other US riders. I rode with them for about a lap, but an up close inspection of a tree let a bit of a gap open. I went hard to get back up to the group, and after about a minute I realized that that was a bad idea because my chest started hurting and I wanted to die. As I rode through the pits Geoff told me I was out of the top 50, so no points, and no point riding around anymore. After I got changed I cruised back over to the course and stood by the Jumbotron so I could see what was going on in the front of the race for a change. It was pretty inpressive to watch those guys battle it out in person. I know I was riding poorly, but man, those guys were just flying! Nys couldnt ditch the 5 Fidea riders marking him and got fed up so he just made it his goal to beat Wellens, which he did, and Vervecken got the win. Tomorrow is another recovery/preperation day, as we are racing in Louenhout on thursday. Hopefully by then I will have kicked this cold, and my ass will stop getting kicked as hard as it has been these last 2 races. Anyways, untill then, I am looking forward to my massage tomorrow morning!

Nasty

2 comments:

Colin R said...

I got given "Transition 2: Cross the pond" for Christmas, and you're the funniest guy in it (barely beating out Powers). Keep saying funny shit to cameras, please.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the updates, man, what an experience and opportunity to race with the top dogs. Remember, those guys put there pants on one leg at a time just like you do! Can you post some pics on your blog from your trip? That would totally rock!!