Race reports

I have to start off by saying the trip has been an eye opening experience, definitely learning a lot from each race!

The World Cup course was a very interesting course it had many elements that helped out every type of racer. It had tight muddy corners, pavement sections, technical down hills, for sure my favorite course so far. The whole day for me seemed to go smoother then the last couple of race days. First we had a Team Canada set up with trainers, tools, mechanics, helpers and most important a good group of athletes! Going to races on your own trying to find strangers to pit for you really effects you, it takes you away from focusing on the race. Neil organized everything and it really seemed to work well!

Hi everyone, I thought I'd get a report out early since I am home early from the race! By now you have seen the Greg Reain was 20th today! He isn't home yet, so you will have to go to his blog later to get the story. All I know is that it was thunderstorming and hailing before the elite men's start... totally changing the course. While the espoirs and I had thick mud to deal with, the elite men had very slippery conditions and they even had to run a couple of the sketchy downhills! I just finished watching the highlights of the race on tv.
So the reason I am home early...I hate DNF's but had to do it today.

The whole crew packed up and drove the 6 hrs to Nommay France at the crack of dawn Saturday morning...ok it was 7:30 but it felt earlier because it was pitch black still. We managed 6 bikes and loads of wheels in the back of our Kangoo then 3 more bikes on the back of the station wagon plus luggage.

I thought we did a great job finding the hotel, we only went around the same round-a-bout 3 times before deciding on a direction and only missing one turn...a mere 15 minute delay!
 
We rode to the course for a quick reconnaissance before settling in for the night. The course was a combination of really thick mud, steep muddy uphills, mud-stairs (literally they used a shovel and cut into the side of a steep hill), and twisty bike path covered in fine gravel. It was kind of like riding through peanut butter followed by granola...but not as yummy. In the race I did a bike change twice a lap on some laps!

A quick report on yesterday's race. First off, I loved the course, it was much more similar to racing at home. Lots of fast grassy corners, off camber, drop ins. But of course because we are in Belgium and they LOVE sand, there was also was 3 beach sections!  I had to run 2 out of 3 of them! One cool feature of the course was riding around the VIP tent. The VIP's were having a full on candlelight meal in there and peering out at the race through the plastic windows!

So I had a first row call up for the first time because the field was kind of small. However, it didn't help me at all because there was no start whistle or even an English 'go'. Just Flemish talking then girls sprinting. Fortunately, I got into about 10th and as soon as we made a turn onto the dirt, I passed 5 girls. I was having one of the best rides I have had all year until I did a bike change.

Happy New Year!

Luxembourg was an epic day! The course went straight up a hill starting on pavement on a residential street, then turning into mud after a set of stairs. The course twisted up a muddy hillside, then twisty down! Due to the slippery, muddy conditions, the downhill was more technical that some Ontario mountain bike races. There were even trees padded with haybails! There was nothing flat on the course, you literally went up, then went down. Kyle was excited because the course suited him perfectly with his awesome techical ability plus being a skinny guy he can really fly up the hills. I, on the otherhand, was excited by the downhill part because I really wanted to work on my pure downhilling skills. The climb was good for me too and as it turns out I lost at least 30secs on each downhill and made up 30sec on each uphill! I was like a Yo-yo! My biggest challenge of the day was hypothermia though. It started raining with some hail right before my race and it cut into my trainer time. Despite my best efforts, I just couldn't get warm again. It was the most difficult conditions I have raced in so far. By the time I reached the end of the first lap, my body had started shutting down because of the cold. My goal quickly changed to finishing the race, I really wanted the technical training so I fought for every position but in the end I just couldn't hold off girls in the decent and finished outside the top 10. I was really happy with my fitness during the race, I was just tempoing the climb and still was making up for my sketchy decending so that is a really good sign. I have a couple of days of recovery now before the next block of really hard training begins leading up to Nommay, Hoogerheide and of course Worlds.We have 9 days off until a UCI race on the 10th. So we can relax, train, and absorb the experience of the last 2 weeks.

Hi everyone,

A quick report on Azencross. I am sorry I didn't have time to take any pictures of the course. So, you are going to have to take my word for it...pretty crazy.

First off, it rained overnight so the course was pretty muddy and the hardest part of the course was a very long section of thick mud that totally zapped the legs. Immediately after the mud bog section, there was 1 of 3 wooden 'bridges'...which were constructed for the race. They are high and steep up and steep down, and become covered with mud and slippery. Other technical features included little turf-covered bmx humps, massive dirt bmx humps, and ditches covered with slippery plywood. I was pretty scared of the bridges at first, but as the race went on I was more confident on them. Fortunately, the Belgian fans participate fully in the race including encouraging you down the first time, as well as catching you when you are sliding down backwards...I was very grateful to the fan who held me up by a fistful of skinsuit when I found myself sliding backwards because someone crashed in front of me!

Hofstade, Belgium, December 26, 2006

I was 33rd, 7:30 back and disappointed with that for sure. The best way to put how the Canadians raced today was a term coined by our American housemate, Molly who said that we were "raced", haha. It is good to get your ass kicked every once in a while to keep the ego in check you know. Seriously though, the jump in speed at a WC is pretty insane and will take some adaptation.

I started in the back row, and my plan obviously was to move up on the starting straightaway as quickly as possible. The plan was circumvented by me catching my bars on the girl's next to me. We didn't go down fortunately, but it did put me off the back and bit and startled me. I was in contact again by first right hand onto a sandy uphill. Girls were off there bikes and I managed to get off early and pass a few. I settled into a long train before the first long beach section. Nearing the end of the first lap, I was still in a long train and hadn't moved anywhere. Gaps started to open ahead and I missed opportunities to move up. I felt like I found the best grove when I was alone and the last 2 laps I rode better. The long sections on the beach were very hard (like 250m a piece I think) and there was a very,very long run through the pits. It was one of the hardest races I have ever done and I was pretty glad when it was over. I am fortunate that I have 4 more races before my next WC in Nommay, France. The whole event was very overwhelming actually, but I also felt like I learned alot in the race about how I need to ride to be competive. I know that 2 years ago I would have been lapped in a race like this for sure, so I am also remembering where I have come from:)